


Lithium

by UninspiredPoet



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BAMF Women, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Femslash, Fluff and Angst, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-09-07 02:04:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 47,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16844977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UninspiredPoet/pseuds/UninspiredPoet
Summary: Sylvanas and Jaina have built the life they've always dreamt of and found true happiness in their marriage and in their children. Everything has changed. But at what cost? A dream for some might be a nightmare for others.





	1. Lithium

**Author's Note:**

> The sequel to Lacrymosa.

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

“I said I’m not interested.”

Alleria’s voice was even and low with an edge of danger in it as the man who’d sat down next to her pushed a mug of ale further in her direction. “That’s not what everyone’s been saying. You’ve been looking for company...I’m here to offer it to you.” 

Liadrin glanced over idly for a brief moment though she’d been listening the whole time. The eldest Windrunner sister had taken to hanging around the tavern in Dalaran since her return after a series of fights had left her largely unwanted around the Inn in Silvermoon. She should know. She’d treated a few of her battle scars. But she was presently more concerned about the man trying to chat her up than she was about Alleria. 

“Ma’am…”

She glanced up as the bartender passed her a few vials of ingredients she hadn’t been able to obtain elsewhere and slipped them into her belt pouch after she placed a few coins on the countertop. “Thank you. And...I’ll have an ale, please.”

“Huh. You usually don’t hang around long.” The man mused as he poured her a mug and handed it over. 

“There may be a show tonight.” She responded with a smirk before walking away and taking a sip of the cool, frothy beverage in her hand. It wasn’t the best. But it would do. 

“I already have a drink. Thank you, stranger. And I’m in no mood for company.” Alleria looked down at her empty mug with a sigh and rolled her eyes before grabbing it to stand and have it refilled. 

_Just kill him and be done. He isn’t worth your time. You drown yourself in pity and waste your potential. This would be a good step towards correcting the situation._

She released a sharp breath and swallowed thickly as she began to turn. Fuck, she wasn’t drunk enough for this. 

“Hey, there isn’t any need to be rude, you know.” The voice came with a searing pain in her wrist that made her wince visibly as he grabbed it - not forcefully - but it didn’t matter. And within a breath he found his head pinned to the table beneath the heavy gauntlet covering the High Elf’s other hand. 

“Let me make this clear.” She spoke lowly through gritted teeth as she leaned down towards him. “I don’t fuck Paladins. Have we come to an understanding?” 

The other patrons of the tavern had begun chuckling quietly at his misfortune. Most people knew who Alleria was. Some...were too young and had to learn the hard way. 

Liadrin, however, had noticed the pained look the touch had caused and sat her mug down to stand with her staff in her hand, ready to intervene if necessary. The last thing she wanted was to send her home to Sylvanas and Jaina with another set of stitches or to carry this man and his severed arm out of the tavern. They’d been friends, once. Many, many years ago. Not terribly close...but closer than Liadrin generally had. And she hated to see her struggling with whatever she was struggling with...but she didn’t act like she wanted anyone to intervene.

Thankfully, it seemed that wouldn’t be needed. The young man pulled his head out from under Alleria’s hand as the occupants of the room got a little quieter - unable to decide if this was going to explode or fizzle out. “Bitch.” He muttered as he turned to make a retreat - thoroughly embarrassed by such a public rejection and being manhandled by her on top of it. 

Something about that word. There had always been something about that word. And before she knew it she was following him towards the door. 

“Hey.” 

She stopped in response to the familiar voice at her back and sighed heavily before she turned around to face Liadrin, glancing down at the mug being offered to her. “I promise I won’t try to bed you if you have another drink and calm down.” 

“Is my sister paying you to keep an eye on me or something?” She asked as she grudgingly took the offered beverage. 

“I would be a rather expensive babysitter if that were the case. No. I just happened to be here to pick up a few things and I’m tired of sending you back to the Village with new bruises. You’re worrying them to death, you know...your sisters...Jaina. I didn’t say you had to drink it with me. I just want you to take it easy. Maybe go home for a few days tomorrow...you could even take Arator with you.” 

_Another distraction. Always another distraction. When will you learn?_

Alleria turned her head slightly in response to her son’s name. The very sound of it stung. She’d failed him more greatly than she had anyone else...and continued to fail him even now. But the whispers were almost as loud with him as they’d been with Turalyon. And he was thriving. Her sister had seen to that. 

“So I’ll take that as an ‘I’d rather drink alone’.” Liadrin continued after watching Alleria stare at nothing in particular for what felt like an uncomfortable amount of time before she seemed to notice her presence again.

“I...I didn’t mean to be…” She trailed off and shook her head. 

“Don’t dwell, Alleria. Perhaps when you’re in better spirits we can catch up. As long as you’re not bruised or maimed the next time we meet. Get a room tonight. I know you can afford it. Should I tell your sister to expect you tomorrow?” Liadrin leaned on her staff as she watched the eldest - and currently the least well-put together of the Windrunner sisters flounder for words. It was so strange. She’d had such swagger about her before her disappearance. But Liadrin risked crossing boundaries if she pried. As a priestess...especially one as powerful as her - one was bound to feel and see things whether or not they were offered freely. 

Alleria looked up at her at that and worry flashed across her features. “Is she in Dalaran?” She asked as her brow furrowed slightly. 

Liadrin shook her head and frowned slightly. “No. I just know I’ll likely see them sooner rather than later. And I don’t think Jaina plans to be back again for a few days. But I still think it might be best if-”

“Tell them I’ll be home soon. Tomorrow.” She interrupted - her voice a touch on the quiet side, which was also quite unusual for her. 

“See that you are, hm? I’ll be around the Spires tomorrow. I need to check on that wound you refuse to let me Heal, too. Which is something I”ll never understand.” 

“I think I’ll turn in early, actually.” The High Elf responded rather abruptly, handing her mostly full glass of ale back over to Liadrin. “So I can head out in the morning. I’ll….I’ll see you soon.” 

She took the stairs to the room she’d already reserved two at a time as Liadrin watched her go and as soon as she was alone she tore her cloak from her head and pressed her hands over her ears. “Stop.” She breathed as she made her way towards the bed. “Please. Stop.” 

_Stay away from the priestess. She is no friend to you. None of them are. None of them will ever understand._

She hit the floor on her knees before she ever made it far enough to lay down and pressed her face into the mattress as she gathered the blankets in her fists and pulled them towards herself. 

_And your sisters. Weak...judgemental...they will be your downfall._

She seethed into the thick cloth she was pressing her bared teeth against and pushed herself up - her eyes darting around for something. For anything. The unused lantern on the end table of the room seemed sufficient and it was quickly nothing but a trail of glass and oil along the floor as her chest heaved and her long, unruly waves of hair hung in her face - reddened by anger as it was. The laughter was faint. But it was there. Patronizing little hisses of noise. But at least there were no more words. For now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sylvanas stared into the flames dancing in their hearth as Rialyn slept against her chest - one of her hands resting easily along the young girl’s back. She’d already gotten Warren to bed but some nights Rialyn just needed to fall asleep with her. In her chair by the fireplace more often than not - especially when Jaina had been gone for a few days. She knew the feeling. And this time had been longer than usual. Her lover had been working with the mages of Silvermoon on strengthening their gates.

Eventually, though, she began drifting off - her free hand hanging near the bow that rested against the armchair. She slept even lighter when Jaina wasn’t around. With Warren upstairs and their daughter with her...how could she not? So when she heard footsteps approaching outside she opened her eyes to look towards the door, smiling sleepily when she saw her wife pulling the hood of her cloak down once she was in the warmth of their home. 

The tired look on Jaina’s face slipped away at the sight that greeted her and she made her way towards Sylvanas without even bothering to remove her thick cloak or boots. As she leaned down to greet her beloved Sylvanas reached for her, stroking through the hair that had begun to whiten in places as her work with the Kirin Tor as well as her own peoples’ mages had grown more frequent. When their lips met it was slow and tender as they both stayed as quiet as possible, though Sylvanas had to pull back slightly to keep it that way. Jaina could tell she had missed her. But the feeling was more than mutual. 

“Let me get her to bed.” She whispered before kissing Sylvanas’s forehead and slipping their daughter from her arms. The High Elf leaned forward and Jaina jumped a bit when she felt her lover’s hand make fairly solid contact with her ass, though it was padded by clothing. She shot her a look over her shoulder. “Really?” She hissed, watching as the older woman made an attempt at looking coy. 

Jaina rolled her eyes and turned towards the stairs to hide her smile. She had Rialyn tucked into her bed in no time - it seemed she was rather worn out. She wondered how Sylvanas had managed that and how she could possibly have any energy left. 

She made her way to their rooms and slipped into a sheer gown in favor of the rather bulky clothing she’d had on previously and as she made her way downstairs she got her answer in the soft, steady breathing of her lover asleep in the chair she’d left her in. Sound asleep. Likely because she was home. 

“Let’s get you to bed, my darling.” She murmured as she helped Sylvanas stand from the chair and felt her head nod against her shoulder. “You are so good. Do you know that?” She asked as the tired elf opened her eyes just enough to see where her feet landed as she walked. “Mm. Tired.” 

Jaina tightened her arm around her lover’s waist and helped her up the stairs towards their bedroom. Alternating between holding Sylvanas up and undressing her Jaina eventually managed to guide her into bed, sighing contentedly as she felt her lover’s body press closer to her own beneath their sheets. “The kids missed you.” Sylvanas whispered as she turned her head up to brush the bridge of her nose along Jaina’s jaw before her lips met the sensitive skin when she next spoke. “I missed you.” 

Jainas’s smile faded slightly as goosebumps rose along her arms. “I missed you, too. I’ll show you how much after you catch up on your rest.” She breathed as she felt Sylvanas’s hands on her hips and her thumbs against the hollows of them. “Sylvanas…” 

“Mm?”

“I don’t want you falling asleep between my legs, lover.” She continued as she reached for her roaming hands to guide them back around herself. 

Sylvanas sighed as she rested her head on the pillow - barely managing to keep her eyes open enough to look at Jaina as she instead ran her fingertips along the small of her back and twined their legs together. “A fair point.” Her eyes slipped shut even as she spoke. “I would...I-”

“I love you.” Jaina’s voice was a mere ghost of a whisper as she reached up to cradle Sylvanas’s cheek. 

“Love you...too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Can we walk Lady Liadrin to the village, mama? Please?” Warren beamed up at Jaina and the mage glanced towards Sylvanas with a smirk.

“Are you sure you’re old enough to undertake such a grand adventure?” Sylvanas asked as she reached down and moved some of his curls from his face despite how hopeless it was. 

“I’m eleven! I’m not a baby...you let me protect Ri!” 

Sylvanas chuckled and looked up at Liadrin who gave her a sly wink. 

“Very well. Escort the Lady to her destination and your mother and I will be by to collect you from your cousins this evening.” She looked at Rialyn, then, who was standing next to Liadrin as though she already knew what answer her brother was going to get. “And you keep them both safe, young lady. Don’t let them get into too much trouble.” 

“We’ll be fine, Mother Hen.” Liadrin chided gently as Warren skipped over to her and took her hand, already pointing them towards Windrunner Village.

Once they were a good distance off Sylvanas turned towards Jaina - the look on her face more serious, now as their talk with Liadrin weighed heavily on her mind. “It’s been a year, now...and you still haven’t told me what happened when you found her.”

Jaina reached out and grasped her lover’s arm gently before sliding her grip down and taking her hand. “Let’s talk, then. Inside.” 

Sylvanas followed her in as her scalp prickled in a way that almost made her shudder. She knew Jaina had to have a good reason for not telling her...she knew...but she still wanted to know what happened. What was wrong with her sister...and what she was trying to hide from them. 

“I need you to stay calm for me, Sylvanas.” Jaina’s voice was steady and low as they sat down on the sofa in their great room near the spiraling staircase. “Please.” 

“I will.” She responded as she glanced down at Jaina’s hand as her fingers twined with her own. “Please tell me.” She continued, just focusing on that small bit of soothing contact. 

Jaina took a deep breath and swallowed thickly as she looked away. God, she could still hear the screaming. Every time she thought about it. 

“Apparently during the time she was away...in our own time as well as the one we came from...she, at some point, was imprisoned. With Turalyon’s blessing.”

“...Imprisoned by who? For what?” 

Jaina’s jaw clenched for a moment and she stroked over Sylvanas’s knuckles with her thumb. “By a Na’aru. For practicing void magic.” 

Sylvanas tensed slightly and shifted where she sat. “But I thought...I thought you didn’t sense it in her.”

“I didn’t. And I still don’t. But...perhaps it doesn’t want me to. Or perhaps she doesn’t want me to. Remember...I got to her before a lot of things happened. She’s certainly not the same Alleria we knew before. If it’s in her...it isn’t as deep.”

Sylvanas felt sick suddenly at the implications. 

“How long? ...How long was she imprisoned?” 

Jaina lowered her head and shook it as regret filled her. “Too long, my love. I’m sorry I didn’t get to her sooner.” 

Sylvanas moved closer to her and drew her hand to her lips, kissing it gently despite how her own trembled. “But you got to her, nonetheless.” 

Jaina nodded faintly and let out a slightly shaky sigh as she watched Sylvanas mull all this information over. And her next question caused her breath to catch in her throat. 

“Did she suffer?” 

“Sylvanas...we can help her. You know that we can. If anyone is capable-” 

“Jaina...please.”

The mage fell silent and when she tried to pull her hand away Sylvanas held it firmly. “I just need to know, darling. If I’m to help her...I have to understand well enough to do so.”

Jaina nodded faintly as tears burned her eyes. “Yes.” She whispered, bringing a hand to her own face to cover it. “She did. So terribly. I’m sorry, Sylvanas. I tried to find her. I tried for so long.”

And just when it seemed she would break she felt her beloved’s arms around her, pulling her close. “You did more than anyone else has ever done for her. For us. She’ll be here, soon. Perhaps she’ll tell us what’s been going on. Or maybe she’ll just slip up and we can go from there. The kids will be fine with their cousins for a day or two.”

"Lithium"  
Evanescence

Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside.  
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...  
Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow.  
Oh, but God, I want to let it go.

Come to bed, don't make me sleep alone.  
Couldn't hide the emptiness, you let it show.  
Never wanted it to be so cold.  
Just didn't drink enough to say you love me.

I can't hold on to me,  
Wonder what's wrong with me.

Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside.  
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...  
Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow.

Don't want to let it lay me down this time.  
Drown my will to fly.  
Here in the darkness I know myself.  
Can't break free until I let it go.  
Let me go.

Darling, I forgive you... After all,  
Anything is better than to be alone.  
And in the end I guess I had to fall.  
Always find my place among the ashes.

I can't hold on to me,  
Wonder what's wrong with me.

Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside.  
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...  
Lithium, ...stay in love with you.  
I'm gonna let it go.


	2. Hate Me

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

Sylvanas stroked idly through Jaina’s hair as she lounged back in their pile of cushions in one corner of their sitting room. Morning had turned into afternoon long ago as they waited for Alleria’s arrival and her thoughts were heavy and troubled. But she didn’t mind that Jaina had dozed off the way she had. In fact there was something about the way she breathed that forced her to stay just as calm. She very nearly dozed off herself before she felt Jaina’s lips brushing her hand as her head turned beneath it. “What time is it?” She asked quietly, reaching for Sylvanas’s wrist and wrapping her fingers around it to keep her hand close. 

“An hour or so before sunset.” She responded with a quick glance out the window. There were little things like this about her that would never cease to amaze Jaina. Facets of her life that would probably always catch her off-guard. This woman had been a Queen. A leader of an entire faction of people...and yet she could still find her bearings in a forest by the way the moss grew on the trees. 

“Are you worried?” She coaxed as she gradually moved up to sit beside her and lean into her shoulder. 

“About Alleria? No.” She faltered and her brow furrowed as she let out a sigh. “Yes.” 

Jaina stood and pulled Sylvanas up by her hand before she made her way to the opposite side of the room and lifted the bow and quiver leaning there in one hand and her staff in the other. “I’ll go see when she left Dalaran. You go find her. I’d imagine she’s somewhere between Silvermoon and the Village. Maybe she’s decided to camp for the night...you’ll find her much quicker than I could. I still can’t scry her for some reason. But as soon as I know something I’ll be right back by your side. Alright?” 

Sylvanas had begun putting on her cloak as Jaina spoke - relieved that she’d been given a reason to hunt her sister down. And by the time she was ready to go Jaina was already buckling her quiver across her chest and pressing a kiss to her jaw - which was all she could reach without Sylvanas leaning down for her. “Stay safe.” Jaina murmured as she rested a hand against her side, stroking over the supple leather of her tunic for a moment. 

“Do the same for me.” Sylvanas responded warmly as she leaned down to give her a proper kiss. 

Jaina smiled against her lips after a moment and reached up to give her hair a gentle tug inside her hood. “Save that for another time, hm? I have a feeling we’re going to need it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaina commanded a certain level of respect in Dalaran after her years of service in the Kirin Tor - especially following her actions in the war against the Scourge and the subsequent clean-up. And sometimes it bothered her. Now was one of those times. It had taken her at least half an hour just to get to the entrance of the Inn Liadrin told them Alleria had been staying at and she was visibly strained as she walked up to the bar counter to find the Innkeeper. 

“Lady Proudmoore!” His voice was loud and surprised and...too damn much right now. Everyone in the entire establishment must have heard him. But still, she managed a polite smile as she approached him and waved her hand in dismissal of the glass he’d already pulled down to serve her with. “Jaina, it’s on the house. You know that.” 

She shook her head slightly and her smile was a bit more genuine - if only for a moment. “And I’ve never not paid you. You know that. I’m not here for a drink. I’m here about my sister-in-law.” 

His jovial mood faded somewhere and he looked down at the glass in his hands, pulling the rag from his apron to polish it despite it already being impeccably clean. “What about her?” He finally asked though he didn’t look up at her. 

“What’s been going on, Jameth?” She asked in a quiet voice as she took a seat on the stool directly across from him. 

“Now, Jaina...I ain’t really at liberty to discuss my patrons’ business like this.” He responded quietly, though inwardly he would’ve liked nothing more. Jaina had always been so kind to him. So personable. Not to mention her openly loving, healthy relationship had made him feel more secure in his own...leanings. They’d opened a lot of minds over the years. And it gave him hope. 

“Right.” She responded as she tapped her fingers against the wood beneath them. “Unfortunately I’m going to have to ask that you cooperate, Jameth. As a member of the Kirin Tor. Not as a friend.” 

Instead of looking shocked or hurt he looked relieved. 

“Well...she’s been takin’ a fair number of visitors in her room. Not that there’s anything wrong with that...just...y’know. Been drinking more than I’ve ever been able to see someone handle and still function. But she does. Somehow. This morning when she paid her tab, though...well, I had to replace a lantern up there and clean up some glass. And she was alone last night, too. I know that much. But she left more than enough coin to compensate for it...looked a bit embarrassed when she left. Somethin’s eating at her, Jaina. Has to be.”

Jaina looked away towards the other patrons of the bar for a moment as she tried to settle her own stomach. She knew it was bad...she knew Alleria liked to disappear for a while sometimes...but this? “Thank you, Jameth.” She finally responded as she reached out to squeeze his hand and stood up. “Your Innkeeper secrets are safe with me.” 

“An’ you won’t tell the wife? Don’t know how well she’d take it…”   
Jaina simply smiled at him before she turned to leave - enough to reassure him, and enough that she wasn’t lying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sylvanas could see the flames flickering through the trees in the darkness as she padded silently across the forest floor. She’d been following Alleria’s tracks for a while, now. And it concerned her how easy it had gotten. She could remember a time her older sister would’ve been nigh impossible to find a foot from her face. 

And no more than a mile or so ago she’d also begun following still-fresh droplets of blood. Not much. She knew that well enough. But enough that she was concerned. She just couldn’t figure it out...there hadn’t even been any sign of a struggle. 

The closer she got to the clearing Alleria had chosen to bed down in, however, the more careful she got. She knew how dangerous this woman could be. She knew how deadly her shot was. The sound of Alleria’s labored breathing met her ears before she ever saw her. It was quick and shallow and slightly muffled in a way that caused her to slip an arrow from her quiver. She hadn’t seen any other tracks, but if someone…

She came to a stop at the edge of the tree line and lowered her bow as she surveyed the scene before her. Alleria was clutching her head where she sat folded over herself on the ground with her chest against her knees and gasping for breath in a way that might suggest she was trying not to cry. And she saw the source of the blood easily - the open wound on her calf glistening in the firelight. She’d always been so good at firestarting. And even as gone as the bottles laying around her pack might suggest she was she’d still managed it. Good. At least she’d held onto something. 

“Alleria…” She said the name gently as she took her first step towards her. But her sister didn’t move. “God damnit, Alleria…” She tossed her bow to the ground and rushed towards her as she seemed like she was about to fall into the fire. 

_It’s her._ The hiss echoed and repeated itself - as though multiple voices had recognized her sister’s presence. She didn’t understand. She didn’t understand what they meant. How could they know her? It didn’t make any sense. 

_She will be your downfall. She will be the downfall of everything you know and love. We have seen it. End it now. We will help you._

Her hands shook in her own hair as she heard Sylvanas getting closer to her. She was so fast...how had she gotten over here this quickly?

“Alleria, come here.” Sylvanas murmured softly as she knelt down next to her and reached for her, meaning to pull her close only to find herself flat on her back with her sister standing over her. 

“Did I...did I send for you? Did I request aid from the Famed Glorious General?” She spat - her eyes wild and dazed. She had to get her away. God, she had to find a way to get her away from her. She couldn’t control it anymore. 

Sylvanas winced as she pushed herself to sit up. She hadn’t been expecting the shove and it had given her knee a good twist. “Alleria don’t...don’t be ridiculous. Of course you didn’t send for me. I’ve come to take you home.” She stood back up with a bit of effort and held her hands up. “Calm down. Please. We can fix this. Jaina and I-”

_She is not as strong as she once was...this will be easy._

“Leave your precious fucking wife out of this, Sylvanas. And your perfect little family. What is this, hm? You’ve come all the way out into the middle of the woods just to see how much more disgusted with me you could be? Well not everyone finds perfection, little sister. Not everyone has it easy like you.” 

Sylvanas tilted her head slightly and rolled her shoulders in an attempt to calm herself. It just didn’t work. “Easy?” She demanded in a low tone, taking a step towards her. “ _Easy_? You could never...you could _never_ even _begin_ to imagine the hell you left me to face alone. And in _my_ hell - booze wasn’t an option. Leading my people was the only option. Saving our _home_ was the only. Fucking. Option. I have earned everything I have a thousand times over. And you squander the chance that’s been given to you. Cheap fucks. Cheap booze. You haven’t seen your son in two mo-”

Her verbal attack was cut off with a sudden, violent physical one that left her barely able to see out of the eye Alleria’s fist had made contact with as she stumbled backwards. And with a sudden, jarring realization...she became aware that this might be the only way to bring the truth out into the open. It just would’ve been nice if it didn’t have to hurt so bad. 

“You haven’t. Seen Arator. In months.” She spat as she shook her head to try and clear her vision, shifting her stance into a more stable one as Alleria looked like she was both stunned at herself and furious. “Your niece...your nephew...miss you. And I find you drunk in the woods. Sloppy. When was the last time you left a blood trail right to you, hm? Stop acting like you didn’t want me to find you. Stumbling around the forests like a god damn toddler...cutting yourself on briars like some incompetent whelp.”

She dodged Alleria as she ran at her and glanced towards the ground cover to check its thickness before she tripped her, watching as she slid through the leaves to a stop before she advanced on her and turned her onto her back, pinning her by her shoulders as she moved to straddle her. Alleria had always been a little stronger. She needed all the help she could get. 

“Get off me, Sylvanas. Now.” Alleria hissed, her fists clenching as she barely controlled what roiled violently just beneath the surface of her skin - tearing at her mercilessly. Begging to be unleashed. 

“No.” She responded firmly, forcing her back to the ground and moving her hands up to hold either side of her face. “Show me, Alleria.” She hissed, ignoring the way Alleria’s fingertips dug into her sides. “I’m not leaving you. I’m never leaving you.” 

Alleria clenched her jaw as the whispers became so frantic she couldn’t even understand them anymore and the last thing Sylvanas saw was a single tear slide down Alleria’s grime-covered face before a portal opened and Jaina stepped through it - her eyes alight with power and fury and arcane energy already crackling around her fingertips. 

But there was nothing she could do. The blast of void energy Alleria produced already had Sylvanas tumbling through the leaves and dirt of the forest floor like a rag doll. She threw up a shield to stop her going any further and ran towards Alleria - her mind a muddle of fear and anger. But the look on the High Elf’s face stopped her. As the void slipped from her eyes nothing but sheer terror was left in them. But even that didn’t last long - so weak was her grasp on consciousness - before she went limp where she lay on the ground. 

She’d been so struck by that expression the whimper from a few yards away made her jump. “Sylvanas…” She breathed, running towards her so fast she stumbled once in her panic before she was on the ground beside her, turning her over and brushing her hair from her eyes with trembling fingertips. “Sylvanas...look at me...look at me, please.” She just barely brushed the swollen, blackening eye that seemed like it wouldn’t obey her as the other just barely fluttered. She glanced down as she saw movement, her eyes shifting to where it seemed like Sylvanas was trying to reach for her own chest. 

“What is it? Shh...shh I’m here.” She lowered her back down into the leaves and shakily unbuttoned the front of her tunic to reveal burned, tender skin. “Shit. _Shit_ , Sylvanas. What were you thinking...why didn’t you wait…” She threw a glance over her shoulder to make sure Alleria was still out as she let her fingertips hover over the marred skin, cooling it to stop any further damage. 

“Alleria…” Sylvanas gasped out, reaching for one of Jaina’s hands to push it away. 

“Alleria can wait. Lay _still_.” She kept one hand over the burns, cooling them and soothing them enough that Sylvanas was comfortable enough to breathe on her own as she slipped her scrying stone from her belt pouch in the other one. “Liadrin...Liadrin where are you…” She murmured as she looked into it for what felt like an eternity before she finally came into focus. 

Thank the gods...the Priestess seemed to be alone...and at their spire? She yelled as she opened the portal - yelled at the top of her lungs so she would be heard through it. But before she’d even finished calling her a second time Liadrin was already stepping through it. And she seemed strangely ready. 

“Liadrin…” Jaina reached up for her and tugged her down by the front of her robes. “Help her. Please. Are the kids still at the village?”

“Of course they are.” Liadrin responded evenly as she knelt next to Sylvanas and further opened her shirt to inspect the damage. “I didn’t know what you three had gotten yourselves into...I just...knew it wasn’t going to be good. I could feel it. You should have had me accompany you in the first place.” 

Jaina would have balked at being reprimanded at a time like this were she not watching Liadrin heal her lover with an ease that was almost terrifying - drawing the burns from her very skin with a rather strange expression on her face as Sylvanas opened her eyes - immediately searching for Jaina with them. 

“This is shadow magic.” Liadrin whispered, turning her gaze up towards Jaina as she pulled the last of it from the former Ranger-General - silently demanding an explanation. 

Without missing a beat Jaina shook her head. “I don't know what they found. I got here too late. I'll take Sylvanas if you can get Alleria. We need to get back before we attract something worse.” It was a lie...but an easy one. Protecting her family was second nature to her. And the look she'd just seen on Alleria’s face...she'd seen that look so many times before. After every outburst. Every nightmare. For nearly thirty years, now. And as heartbreaking as it was, it gave her some measure of hope. If she feared what she was capable of...that could be reason enough not to slip any further. 

“I...I can move myself.” Sylvanas protested weakly before Jaina shot her a look and she fell silent for a moment then addressed Liadrin as she turned to fetch Alleria. “Be careful with her. Please.”

Liadrin sighed as she hoisted Alleria over her shoulder and stood, getting her bearings beneath the weight of her and making her way towards the still open portal. “With this? She's as tough as an ox. Now stop giving Jaina fits and let her help you.” 

Jaina's expression had softened when she heard that quiet request from her lover. Just how much of herself did she see in Alleria? Because she was fairly certain she was seeing it, too. “Let's go home, my darling. We can figure the rest out later. Arms around my neck. Tightly, now.” She leaned down and slid one arm beneath her beloved’s legs then used her staff to lift herself back up with a quiet huff of effort. 

“Oh, come on, Proudmoore. You got the lighter one.” 

“Liadrin. Please.” Jaina muttered under her breath as they carried the sisters over the threshold of the spire they called home. At least for now. Alleria still hadn’t been around enough to move into one of the side spires despite promising for months, now. 

“...I’m sorry. You know I have a terrible sense of humor.” The priestess turned to look at Jaina as she adjusted Alleria against her shoulder. “In all seriousness...your bedroom? I need to get her cleaned up so I can see about these wounds and getting her conscious. And figuring out what did this…”

“Yes. Our bedroom is fine. The bathroom is attached...but you know that already.” Jaina sounded flustered as she moved towards the corner of the room and finally laid Sylvanas down along the sofa, helping her find a position to lay in that didn’t cause her any discomfort. “And...Liadrin?”

The Priestess looked back at her as she began taking the stairs carefully, pausing to listen to her. 

“Thank you. For everything you’ve done for my family. I’ll never be able to repay you.” 

As dry and detached as Liadrin sometimes seemed around most people - she really wasn’t. Guarded, perhaps. But the job of a Priestess was, more often than not, a thankless one. And with Sylvanas and Jaina she’d never felt anything but warmth and appreciation from them in their friendship over the years. 

“No, it’s...it’s been a pleasure, Jaina.” She responded quietly before she felt Alleria begin to tense in her arms as she started coming to with a quiet, confused groan. “I’d better...if I need you I’ll call down for you. Go see about your accident-prone wife and remind her of the definition of retirement, would you?”

“Trust me - I plan to.”

"Hate Me"  
Blue October

I have to block out thoughts of you so I don't lose my head  
They crawl in like a cockroach leaving babies in my bed  
Dropping little reels of tape to remind me that I'm alone  
Playing movies in my head that make a porno feel like home  
There's a burning in my pride, a nervous bleeding in my brain  
An ounce of peace is all I want for you. Will you never call again?  
And will you never say that you loved me, just to put it in my face?  
And will you never try to reach me?  
It is I that wanted space

Hate me today  
Hate me tomorrow  
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways  
Yeah, ways hard to swallow  
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

I'm sober now for three whole months it's one accomplishment that you helped me with  
The one thing that always tore us apart is the one thing I won't touch again  
In my sick way I want to thank you for holding my head up late at night  
While I was busy waging wars on myself, you were trying to stop the fight  
You never doubted my warped opinions on things like suicidal hate  
You made me compliment myself when it was way too hard to take  
So I'll drive so fucking far away that I never cross your mind  
And do whatever it takes in your heart to leave me behind

Hate me today  
Hate me tomorrow  
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways  
Yeah, ways hard to swallow  
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

And with a sad heart I say bye to you and wave  
Kicking shadows on the street for every mistake that I had made  
And like a baby boy I never was a man  
Until I saw your blue eyes cry and I held your face in my hand  
And then I fell down yelling, "Make it go away!"  
Just make a smile come back and shine just like it used to be  
And then she whispered, "How can you do this to me?"

Hate me today  
Hate me tomorrow  
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways  
Yeah, ways hard to swallow  
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you  
For you  
For you  
For you


	3. Teardrop

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

Sylvanas watched as Liadrin carried her sister up their stairs as she rested a hand on her own stomach and shifted where she laid, a breath catching in her throat when she pushed herself up to sit instead of lay. “Jaina…” Her voice was soft and warm despite the events of the evening and when the mage turned to look at her - ready to scold her for possibly hurting herself - she patted the spot next to where she sat. “Come here. Sit with me for a while.” The tone she used was so firm and unexpected Jaina was moving before she even thought about it, settling down next to her almost awkwardly. She glanced towards her lover - at the healed skin still exposed behind the opening of her shirt - the bruise around her eye...and the various scrapes wherever there was exposed skin from the way she’d been thrown. “Sylvanas, let me go get a rag I-”

“Not right now, Jaina.” The High Elf murmured as she reached out and ran her fingertips along either side of the younger woman’s face, guiding it towards her own gently so she could look into her eyes. “I’m fine. I promise. Just breathe for a moment.” 

Jaina swallowed thickly as she reached out to touch her chest beneath her collarbones where the burns had been such a short time ago. “At least let me pick the leaves out of your hair.” Her voice trembled when she finally spoke again and Sylvanas lowered her hands as she turned to face her. “As you wish.” 

As she pulled the hood of Sylvanas’s cloak the rest of the way off her head and allowed her hair to fall free. She went to work cleaning the grit and debris from her pale blonde hair, stroking through it every now and then. Sylvanas very nearly dozed off until she glanced up and saw her beloved’s eyes glistening in the light of the fire Liadrin had built before Jaina summoned her. “Jaina…” She breathed as she reached out for her instantly only to have her hand pushed away. She looked hurt for a moment before she winced slightly at a sudden, strong grip in the hair at the back of her head. “Stop doing this.” Jaina whispered - her voice very nearly breaking with the effort it took to form words right then. “I’m begging you. Stop acting like you don’t know it would kill me to lose you.” 

The grip loosened but Sylvanas didn’t move. If Jaina needed to be angry..she knew better than anyone that she had a right to be. 

“I _can’t_ lose you again.” She lowered her head as her hand slid from Sylvanas’s hair to stroke the back of her neck and a shuddering breath left her. “The kids need you. I need you. I can’t lose you again.” 

Sylvanas moved closer to her lover carefully, slipping her arms around her and pulling her against her chest. “Jaina...my love...I promise you aren’t going to. I promise.” Her eyes fell shut as her wife gradually reached for her and stroked along her sides and around to her back. 

“Why didn’t you wait for me?” Jaina asked - though there was more hurt in her voice than accusation. 

“I should have. And I’m sorry. I’m just...I’m just scared of losing you, too.” 

Jaina nodded and lifted her head to press her face against the side of her lover’s neck - breathing in the gentle scent of forest and sweat that had always smelled so sweet on her when they were truly young. “We’re a hell of a lot less likely to die when we’re together, you know.”

Sylvanas only held her closer when she fell silent again, lifting one hand to start unbraiding her hair without even having to look at it.

“What are you doing?” Jaina asked - her lips brushing her beloved’s throat as she spoke. 

“Getting you ready for bed. My bones ache. I’m too old to be getting tossed around like that...and Liadrin is uniquely suited to handle whatever Alleria might throw her way. Though I doubt she’ll get any trouble out of her. It can wait until morning, either way.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hold still.” Liadrin ordered as she knelt to start unlacing Alleria’s boots, still trying to catch her breath from lugging her up the stairs that spiraled towards the upper rooms of the spire. The wound on her calf still hadn’t stopped bleeding. And she was so dirty and her clothing so torn Liadrin couldn’t even see it well enough to know what was going on with it.

And yet still - Alleria struggled every so often when she regained consciousness, however briefly. For the first time in a very long time Liadrin felt herself getting upset with a patient and by the time she got her second boot off her face had reddened considerably. “Alleria, for gods sakes...if you don’t-” 

Her face fell as she started sliding her leggings down and her voice left her altogether. “Alleria…” She whispered, running her fingertips over one of many sets of bruises on her thighs in the shape of hands - hands larger than her own. It didn’t get much better when she finally got the leggings peeled off her. They were around her ankles, too. Liadrin swallowed thickly and tried to process what she was feeling. She didn’t recall anyone kicking her in the gut over the past few seconds...but that’s what it felt like. 

As more of her body was exposed to the cool air of the bedroom the older woman began to wake, her breath quickening as she realized she was half undressed. Hopefully, she wasn’t in someone’s field somewhere scaring their livestock...but all too quickly her memory came rushing back to her and she sat up in bed, leaning forward slightly as her head spun. 

God. Liadrin. “What are…” She pushed the priestess’s hand away from herself. 

“Stop. Tell me what’s going on. Tell me what’s going on with you.” Her voice was firm and almost angry. “There was a time when we were friends, Alleria….and now…what _is_ this? What have you been doing to yourself?” 

Alleria was angry at her prying...but for once the damnable whispers were relatively quiet. Perhaps unable to function properly in a mind as exhausted as hers. “Whatever I need to.” She mumbled as she slowly lowered herself back onto the bed. “None of the healing bullshit. Stitch me up and be about your business.”

Liadrin lifted Alleria’s legs to lay her more fully along the bed and moved silently to the washbasin on the other side of the room. She carried the whole setup to the bedside and began unpacking her bag of the instruments she would need. “Not this time.” She responded simply as she dampened one of the sterile cloths she produced and leaned over her to begin cleaning the wound. “I’ll be staying until you aren’t a danger to yourself. Whether that’s tomorrow or a week from now...that’s how long I’ll be staying. But I’m not just leaving you here to run off or put anyone else in danger again.” 

As she spoke she continued cleaning Alleria’s leg, having to switch to a clean cloth halfway through before she finally managed to get it free of debris. “We aren’t in my quarters...I don’t have anything with me to make this hurt less.” She continued as she picked up the needle she’d be doing the stitching with and laced it with sinew. When she looked to check that Alleria had understood she was struck by the expression on her face...the dullness of her eyes. 

“I don’t care, Liadrin. I don’t care if it hurts. Just get it over with.” Alleria drew the leg Liadrin wasn’t going to be working on up as she watched the priestess settle down onto the bed and pull her leg across her lap. The Priestess could almost feel it herself when she made the first stitch and Alleria went tense against the bed - her chest going still as she held her breath. 

“Relax.” Liadrin whispered, kneading her calf gently far enough away from the wound that it wouldn’t hurt it. Why was this affecting her? How many countless injuries had she treated - and a great many of them worse than this? “And keep breathing. Do those two things for me and we’ll be done before you know it.” 

There was something about the touch. About the tone of her voice that actually allowed her to muscles to untense for the first time in…

She swallowed thickly against the lump in her throat as she shut her eyes and lifted a hand to cover her own face. Thankfully, Liadrin assumed it was because of what she was doing and not her falling apart over a simple kindness from someone who wasn’t required to give it to her. 

“You’re fine, Alleria.” Liadrin murmured as she honed in on what she was doing. “Just a few more. Keep still for me. You’re doing wonderfully.” 

Alleria nodded her head beneath her hand - breathing evenly through parted lips to try and bite back her own overwhelming emotions on top of the searing pain in her leg. But it really was over quickly. And as soon as it was Liadrin reached for her nearby tray, discarding the needle and opening a tin container of salve which she dipped into with her fingertips before rubbing it over the freshly closed cut she’d just finished mending. “Can you sit up?” She asked idly as she moved on to wrapping her leg with soft, clean linen. 

Alleria ran her hand down her face to remove any potential tears and pushed herself up slowly, folding her leg beneath the one laying in Liadrin’s lap. “Good. How’s your head?”

Alleria nodded forward slightly and her eyes opened wider as Liadrin caught her shoulder in her hand and still managed to finish her wrap and tuck the end of the bandage so it wouldn’t come undone. “Careful, now. Don’t pass out on me. You can rest soon.” 

The Priestess gingerly slipped out from under her leg and moved an arm behind her shoulders to help her slide further back into the bed. “You smell like booze, Alleria.” She remarked idly as she reached for the blankets to cover her exposed lower half with the image of the bruises still burned into her mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about them. What they meant. How badly Alleria must be suffering to want to be hurt like that. And how much she would never…

“I’m sorry.” Alleria whispered in response, adjusting herself with a slightly pained expression once she was covered. 

Liadrin sat down on the edge of the bed and looked over at her - at the icy blue glow of her eyes and the way they illuminated the faint dusting of freckles along the bronze skin of her cheeks. “Don’t apologize to me, Wild One. I’ll be back in the morning and we’ll get you cleaned and I’ll change that dressing..” She reached out and touched the mess of hair still half-obscuring her face and guided it out of her eyes before she stood. She could remember a time when that hair shone in a way that rivaled the sun.

It was then that Alleria realized all the times Liadrin had touched her she’d felt only the barest hint of discomfort. She could still remember the last time her and Turalyon touched. It had been excruciating. “Liadrin?”

She turned around, then, as she adjusted the strap of her bag across her chest before her eyes met those of the eldest Windrunner Sister. “Hm?”

“Is your relationship with the Light the same as it would be for...for…” She struggled to find the right words. But Liadrin found them for her. 

“Your estranged husband? No. Paladins are...borne of the light. Encompassed by it. They are a vessel for the Light and I am a wielder of it. Why do you ask?”

“Curiosity.”

Liadrin sighed and nodded. “Alright. Keep your secrets. Perhaps one day you’ll tell an old friend what happened to you out there. And why you came back alone.” She turned to leave, then, her heart and mind a collective muddle of confusing emotions. 

“Wait.” Alleria whispered quietly, as though she were scared anyone but Liadrin might hear her - and she watched the gentle, barely perceptible motion of one of the woman’s ears shifting in her direction. “Don’t...I...”

Liadrin could sense insecurity in her voice. And...fear? “You don’t have to say it, Alleria.” She murmured as she allowed her bag to slip from her shoulder and moved to the arm chair by the fireplace. She lifted it and made her way over to the bed with it, positioning it near the end table and settling down in it. “Sleep. I’m not going anywhere.” She turned her head to look at her after a while when she heard the former Farstrider’s breathing even out more quickly than she’d expected it to. 

But there was no sleep to be had for her. She just watched the slow, steady rising and falling of Alleria’s chest and the way her face still seemed troubled even now. Gods, whatever the demons were that were haunting her...she found herself wanting to face them, herself. To demand to know what they’d done to turn this fabled warrior of the forests into a mass of self-destructive pain. She could feel it, even now, as she opened herself up to Alleria - not reaching out to her, just being. Sensing her and the hazy emotions still coming from her as she slept. She began to doze as she reached out to rest a hand on the bed near the sleeping woman, far enough away that she wouldn't accidentally touch her. She'd seemed wary of that since she returned. 

_”Please, Xe’ra.” The voice was broken and raspy - ragged and overused. She couldn’t see. There was only light. Blinding, searing light. “Please! Stop! I can’t take it anymore…” The pleas faded into sobs before the ethereal voice of a Naaru filled the space - whatever space this was. “Submit. Submit and be freed from your transgressions. Submit and end your self-imposed torment, Alleria.”_

_The light brightened and unbearable pain seared through her own veins before a scream filled her ears - tearing violently from her own throat. It was unimaginable._

Liadrin’s eyes snapped open and she felt tears dampening her cheeks as she looked around the darkened room - finding Alleria still sleeping. As still and unmoving as she’d been when she had first dozed off. The only difference, now, was the shocking realization that she was holding onto her wrist...she could feel the bow callouses of the woman’s warm hand against her arm. 

She didn’t dare move.

"Teardrop"

Massive Attack

Love, love is a verb  
Love is a doing word  
Fearless on my breath  
Gentle impulsion  
Shakes me, makes me lighter  
Fearless on my breath

Teardrop on the fire  
Fearless on my breath

Night, night after day  
Black flowers blossom  
Fearless on my breath  
Black flowers blossom  
Fearless on my breath

Teardrop on the fire  
Fearless on my...

Water is my eye  
Most faithful mirror  
Fearless on my breath  
Teardrop on the fire  
Of a confession  
Fearless on my breath  
Most faithful mirror  
Fearless on my breath

Teardrop on the fire  
Fearless on my breath

You're stumbling a little  
You're stumbling a little


	4. Meet Me On The Battlefied

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

Alleria groaned quietly as she stirred in bed, trying to focus her vision as she felt soft warmth against her fingertips until she finally saw she was holding onto Liadrin’s wrist. “Sorry.” She whispered as her eyes fell shut again and she started to pull her hand away.

“Don’t be.” Liadrin murmured in response as she grasped it gently in her own for a moment before standing up and letting her go. She’d been half-awake for the duration of the night, contemplating the meaning of the dream and its implications. “They’re cooking downstairs. I need you to eat something after you get washed up.” She rolled her head to get the stiffness out of her neck and shoulders and moved towards the bathroom to clean out the wash basin from last night all while Alleria watched her quietly from the bed. The Priestess brought the steaming water into the room and placed it in the chair she’d been sitting in with a cloth hanging from the side. “Don’t get the bandage wet.”

She’d been so busy - so clinical - that she hadn’t stopped to really look at the older woman yet. But after she’d finished giving her instructions she couldn’t help but realize how quiet and still she’d been. And how her eyes had been on her the entire time. She lifted her gaze slowly to meet the one that had been trained on her. “Is there something on your mind?” She asked - her tone completely different, now. More like the one she’d used while she was stitching her up the night before. 

“Are you leaving?” Alleria asked quietly. She was so _still_. Liadrin knew Rangers were capable of many things. Especially the Windrunners. But she found it so disconcerting that Alleria would employ those abilities in a private setting like this. She was even controlling her breathing. 

“Not for long.” She responded as she took a step towards the bed and reached down to press the back of her hand to Alleria’s forehead. “You’re warm.” She murmured, glancing at the tattoo adorning the side of her face though she refrained from touching it as her hand fell. “I’ll just be at the village restocking. I need you to stop drinking. And I’ll need to have the proper medicines in order to make that as bearable as possible for you. And...you should, perhaps, discuss moving into one of the other spires for the next couple of days. I’ll be staying with you until you’re over the worst of it and...I love them, dearly but if I’m to treat you I need to be allowed to do so properly. And with the way they fret over you, I’m not sure that would be possible here.”

Alleria blinked a few times and then turned her attention to the nearby window. Her head was killing her...but she was used to it. The dread, though...the thought of her mind being sharp and her thoughts clear...she was terrified. 

“Alleria I...I need you to at least try and communicate with me.” Liadrin coaxed as she sat down on the edge of the bed. 

“I felt you in my dream last night.” The older woman whispered. She felt like she truly was going mad. “Why were you there?”  
“Because I left myself open to it.” Liadrin responded simply, folding her hands in her lap and sighing. “I take it that wasn’t just a dream. And that it’s not an uncommon occurrence for you. You didn’t even stir.” 

Alleria pulled herself up slowly to sit up and lean back against the headboard of the bed though she still hadn’t looked at Liadrin again. “You shouldn’t do that. Open yourself up like that. Not with me.” 

_She will know. And she will hate you for it._

Liadrin’s brow furrowed as she saw Alleria’s ear shift like she was listening to something. “If I’m to help you - there isn’t any choice.” She rested a hand on the bed between them but made no further move. She was transported to a time when she was young. Before everything had fallen apart and she’d found a wounded bird in the forest outside her village. She knew she could help it. Knew she could fix it. Allow it to fly again. But oh, how it had struggled with its little heart hammering away against her fingertips as she carried it home no matter how she tried to soothe it. 

“I’m not scared, Alleria. Of whatever that was. Of whatever is to come.” She continued quietly when she received no response - and she reached out carefully. So carefully. And ran the backs of her fingers down the older woman’s cheek. “I’ve cared for this family for so long. Let it be your turn.” 

Alleria finally looked at Liadrin as she felt her hand pull away - leaving nothing but a faint sensation of coolness in its wake against her slightly fevered skin. But no pain. No discomfort. She looked confused, suddenly. She’d expected there to be. Despite the fact that it had been more bearable with Liadrin when she’d had to patch her up...there had always been at least something on the edge of her senses - pushing and wearing away at her. She glanced down at the Priestess’s hand as it settled back in her own lap and then met the measuring gaze that had been leveled at her. 

“If life has taught me anything, Alleria - it’s that not everything is black and white. The Light is a tool. It has to be. I don’t know how that happened to you or why...and I hope that changes someday...but no one will hurt you in my presence. You have my word.” 

Alleria turned her head away again and her hair fell in a way that hid her face as she looked towards the window once more. But she couldn’t see out of it through the unshed tears clouding her vision. 

“Wash up. Go talk with them. Eat something. I’ll bring some comfortable clothing with me when I return. You can manage that much. I know you can. I’ll get you through this. I’ll have to answer to your sisters if I don’t.” 

Alleria smiled for a moment before it faded as the faint glimmer of amusement she’d felt turned dark again before she could even experience it properly. “Is that why?” She asked - her voice slightly hoarse. 

Liadrin actually did smile - albeit sadly. “I’m not afraid of them any more than I am of you. I want to help you for the woman I knew all those years ago. And for the one sitting in front of me right now. Is that something you can agree to?” 

_You fly towards the sun. Your wings will burn. She will break you. And when you are destroyed - you will be alone. They grow tired of you. You don’t need them. You are stronger than all of them combined._

“Yes.” She breathed over the nagging in her mind, managing to look up at Liadrin as she spoke. God, she looked so tired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“For your head, Alleria.” Sylvanas offered gently as she turned when she heard her older sister pull a chair up to their table and sit down. She sat the mug in front of her and moved towards the kitchen, again - back towards Jaina and the food they’d been preparing. She hadn’t even managed two or three sips of the concoction before a plate of eggs with still-warm bread and a rasher of bacon was placed before her by Jaina. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the young woman as she thanked her. Nor could she stop herself wondering how badly she’d hurt her sister…

And it was that guilt that drove her to start eating. She hadn’t had an appetite in weeks - though she ate enough to sustain. Barely. At least the darkness left her alone while she did that. As though it knew she needed the sustenance in order for it to finish claiming her. She’d be no good to it dead. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Jaina just barely grazed her sister’s side with the back of her hand when she returned to fetch their own breakfast. It was so easy. So natural. Painless.

_They flaunt their love in the face of your suffering._

She lowered her head in order to avoid seeing them as they joined her at the table. Nobody spoke...but she didn’t feel any uneasiness between them, either. Which was more than she’d been expecting. More than she deserved by far. 

As they all seemed to finish around the same time Jaina looked up at Sylvanas and rested a hand along her thigh beneath the table discretely, stroking it gently with her thumb so the movement would be imperceptible. 

Strangely enough, though, Alleria was the first to speak. “Liadrin...Liadrin wanted me to discuss staying in one of the other spires for a few days. She means to...I had planned on not…I’m going to try to stop drinking.” She hadn’t really prepared herself for what that simple statement would take. That much was clear by the way the color drained from her naturally tanned skin. 

Sylvanas covered Jaina’s hand with her own on her thigh and twined their fingers together as she leaned back a bit in her chair. Her eye was still lightly bruised and she was sporting quite a headache of her own - but all in all, she wasn’t all that worse for wear. “That’s an excellent place to start, sister.” She was struggling. Struggling for the right words. The right emotions. “And do you plan to tell her why it is you’ve been doing what you’ve been doing?” 

Alleria was visibly shaken and her knee bounced nervously beneath the table as she tried to quell the panic rising in her. “How do you know why I’ve been...doing whatever it is you’re assuming?” She asked - a slightly defensive edge slipping into her voice. 

“Because Alleria.” Sylvanas leaned forward then and rested a hand between them on the table. The older woman glanced at it but made no move to reach out to her. “I know all too well what a desperate feeling it is when they won’t stop telling you awful things.”

_She knows. End her. Now._

Alleria was quick as she moved to get up from the table - but Sylvanas was quicker. And before she could even manage to turn towards the door she felt herself caught by a strong grip around her arm. “Let me go.” She spat as she tugged at the hold, though she didn’t turn to look at Sylvanas. 

“No. We’ve been through this before.” She responded as she leaned more fully over the table so Alleria wouldn’t be able to struggle free. 

“You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about, Sylvanas. Let me go so I can cool down.” Another firm tug - this one causing the former Ranger-General to jerk forward rather painfully against the table. Jaina - who had remained silent throughout the exchange thus far, lifted her gaze to Alleria and it was so sharp the High Elf could feel it on her. “You aren’t the only person in this world who has suffered.” Her voice held no anger or danger. Just a steadiness that she couldn’t have avoided if she tried. “The Void is terrible, truly. But you aren’t the only one in this family that has been tormented by it. You are just the only one that willingly made the decision. Now - sit down. Or I will sit you down, myself.” 

She went still, then. Quarreling with her sister was one thing. They had done it plenty in their youth. But Jaina...it wasn’t her power she feared. It was the fact that no matter how furious she was with Sylvanas she would never have harmed a hair on her mate’s head. “Come on, then.” Sylvanas murmured as she steadied her breathing and moved around the table to Alleria’s side. “Let’s sit down. No running.” 

Jaina stood and followed them into their living area, marveling at how maternal she was despite how much younger she was. Despite everything she’d been through, herself. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride, suddenly. Pride that she was the one Sylvanas had chosen to care for _her_ when she’d never allowed anyone else to. 

Eventually, they were all situated - Jaina sitting in the corner of the couch and Alleria sitting between the two of them, as far away from either as she could manage. Stiff and still...but finally prepared to listen. She knew she was out of options.

“Many things came to pass in your absence. Many of them terrible. Now isn’t the best time to go too far into detail...but I need you to know that I know exactly what it is you’re feeling.” Sylvanas was outwardly calm despite the fact that Jaina knew that wasn’t at all the case. And her blue eyes stayed trained on her beloved even as Sylvanas focused on her sister. 

“That isn’t possible, Sylvanas.” Alleria whispered as she leaned forward to press her head into her hands. They were there. Looming. Almost as though they were trying to get a feel for the situation. Like - for once - they didn’t know what to say. But even that was enough. The waiting. In fact, it was almost worse. 

“From what I remember...time isn’t much of an entity within the Void.” She continued, leaning forward, herself, to be closer to her - if only to be able to talk more quietly. “Do they know me, by chance? The whispers?” 

And suddenly - with no warning - the presence seemed to vanish. And the quiet was was overwhelming. Even as it came filtering carefully back into her subconscious...she gave her own hair a slight tug but managed to nod in response as her shoulders began to shake. Oh, god, she didn’t need to break right now. Not right now. 

Without warning she felt Sylvanas’s fingers combing through her hair - still damp from her quick washing-up. “Do you know why that is?” She slipped her fingers down to lift her sister’s chin and their eyes met. “Because it failed to destroy me. And it doesn’t understand why.”

_Lies. She lies. She would take your power from you. She cannot stand that you are stronger. Better. She is weak._

Alleria shook her head as her eyes shut tightly. 

“Oh, I bet that upset them, hm?” Sylvanas whispered as she slipped her hand to the back of Alleria’s head and pulled her towards herself. “You aren’t alone. Never again. You have me. You have Jaina. The kids. We’re a family. And there’s no one better suited to help you with the rest than Liadrin.” 

Alleria resisted at first. Even reached up to wrap a hand around her sister’s wrist. But it was no use. She fell into her arms and hid her face against her chest. “Help me.” She gasped out suddenly as her fingers found purchase on the thick winter tunic her sister was wearing and tugged at it. “Please help me.” The first sob broke from her throat with her quiet, fractured plea. The way Sylvanas wrapped her arms around her - cradled her close and rested her forehead atop her head - was so protective. So full of resolve. “You need only let me, Alleria.” She soothed as she held her. “You need only let me.” 

Jaina looked on with tears burning her eyes and it occurred to her just how deeply she’d always believed in Sylvanas. There was just something about her. Something in her that had always refused to give up. Whether it be an injury or the Endless Dark itself.

"Battlefield"  
SVRCINA

No time for rest  
No pillow for my head  
Nowhere to run from this  
No way to forget

Around the shadows creep  
Like friends, they cover me  
Just wanna lay me down and finally  
Try to get some sleep

We carry on through the storm  
Tired soldiers in this war  
Remember what we're fighting for

Meet me on the battlefield  
Even on the darkest night  
I will be your sword and shield,  
Your camouflage and you will be mine

Echoes of the shots ring out  
We may be the first to fall  
Everything could stay the same  
Or we could change it all

Meet me on the battlefield

We're standing face-to-face  
With our own human race  
We commit the sins again  
And our sons and daughters pay

Our tainted history  
Is playing on repeat  
But we could change it  
If we stand up strong and take the lead

When I was younger, I was named  
A generation unafraid  
For the heirs to come, be brave

And meet me on the battlefield  
Even on the darkest night  
I will be your sword and shield,  
Your camouflage, and you will be mine

Echoes of the shots ring out  
We may be the first to fall  
Everything could stay the same  
Or we could change it all

Song inspo courtesy of [Atronave.](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atronave/pseuds/Atronave)


	5. Belong To You

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

“Are you alright, my love?” Jaina asked quietly as she pressed a kiss to Sylvanas’s cheek and stroked gently along her chest. It was quiet. For the first time in so long, it was quiet. Warren and Rialyn would be back tomorrow...but tonight was theirs. Liadrin had gotten Alleria settled into the neighboring spire a few hours ago - safe and secure. They’d even received word that Vereesa would be taking leave, soon. It seemed there was finally a moment to breathe. And Jaina was in no mood to waste it. Her desire to care for her lover - to spoil her and show her how she’d made her feel over the past days - was too much to even begin to want to deny.

Sylvanas smiled softly and turned her head towards Jaina’s as she lifted a hand behind herself - still dripping with water from the bath she’d been lounging in - and caught the back of her head as she tilted her own chin up to press her lips against her beloved’s. Her eyes slipped shut when Jaina’s lips parted against her own and she felt the very tip of the mage’s tongue graze her lower lip. Her breath caught in her throat in response and Jaina’s lips curled against hers in a smirk. 

“Has it really been so long, Sylvanas?” She asked in a whisper against her mouth. 

“It’s always been more than long enough.” She murmured in response, leaning her head back as Jaina trailed her lips down the front of her throat. Her heart was already racing in her chest as Jaina’s teeth found purchase where her neck met her shoulder and she dug her fingertips into her scalp as she sucked firmly on the skin there. Gods, it had been so long since Jaina marked her like this. So deliberately. Possessively. 

By the time she lifted her head again, Sylvanas was pressing up against her mouth and breathing heavily - her face flushed with warmth and her eyes lidded heavily when she looked up at her. “I’ve been wanting to do that for days. I wish, sometimes, that you could see yourself through my eyes.” Jaina’s gaze moved, then, as Sylvanas’s hand slipped from her hair to rest along the edge of the tub. Her fingertips traced the curve of the underside of her breast and down along the lines of muscle in her stomach - watching the way it tensed beneath her touch. The sound of water moving joined the quiet, quickened breaths of her lover as she bent her leg and her knee broke the surface of the water - anticipating a touch that never came. 

“I’ll never know you you’ve stayed in such good shape over the years.” Jaina marveled as her free hand kneaded the older woman’s shoulder. Sylvanas had been about to speak when that same hand slipped over her breast warmly, her fingers parting on either side of her nipple as she kneaded it in a way that Sylvanas wished her hands would work elsewhere. 

“You’re not so bad yourself.” She breathed, running her hand down Jaina’s forearm to her wrist in an attempt to guide her further down. 

Jaina merely smiled and pinched her nipple firmly, rolling it in her fingertips as her other hand stayed put on her lover’s lower abdomen. “My Vain Elf...with every right to be…have some patience. We have all night.”  
“I didn’t say you had to stop touching me when you were done.” Sylvanas husked as she leaned up enough to kiss the corner of Jaina’s jaw before she bit against it - though she was careful not to catch the delicate skin with her teeth too firmly. 

“Mm...you’ve got me there. Relax. I haven’t had you alone in so long...let me enjoy myself.” 

She seemed to be slightly mollified by the truth of that statement and settled back down into the water as Jaina moved to kneel slightly to the side of the tub. Her hand slipped beneath the water, then, and she stroked slowly along Sylvanas’s inner thigh - just barely grazing the soft, sensitive folds of flesh between her legs with the side of her hand now and again. At the same time, she lowered her head towards her lover’s chest and allowed her nipple to brush the side of her cheek as she kissed and nipped around it. “Jaina…” Sylvanas whimpered as she felt nails dig into her thigh. “I have patience. I swear I do. But please…” 

The mage cut her eyes at Sylvanas as she chuckled before her lips finally found the sensitive bud she’d been teasing around and flicked the tip of her tongue over it. “Gods...Jaina…” She whispered breathlessly as she watched her in a slight daze as her teeth caught what she was toying with and tugged in a way that drew a keen from her before the sharp sting was soothed with wet, gentle suction. “You mouth is going to be the death of me…” Sylvanas mumbled as she leaned her head back again - somewhat more relaxed now that her wife was giving her at least some form of attention. And as though Jaina sensed that she shifted her hand ever so slightly and parted her sex beneath the water, slowly running the pad of her middle finger up over her - finding her surprisingly slick considering the bath. This time she allowed her to raise her leg and keep it there as it made it easier to reach her. And easier to respond to the way her hips bucked with she slid her finger over her clit and back down to sink inside her. 

Sylvanas hissed through her teeth as her head rolled and she reached between her own legs - not stopping or hindering her lover - just resting her fingers across Jaina’s as her thumb began stroking along her clit and her middle finger curled in slow, steady motions inside her. She just wanted to feel her. And Jaina loved it. 

When Jaina felt her lover begin to tighten around her already she lifted her head from her breast and pressed a breathless kiss to her cheek. “Wait.” She breathed, her thumb stilling against her clit in a way that made it throb almost painfully. “Back off it for me.” 

Sylvanas reached to gripped onto the sides of the tub as she turned her head towards Jaina and nodded. And Jaina waited. Waited until her hips were no longer shifting against her hand and her breathing had evened out somewhat - though it was still shaky. “Mm, there you go.” She murmured against her lover’s temple before she pressed another finger into her so slowly she could feel the shuddering moan she was rewarded within the pit of her own stomach. 

This time she left her clit well enough alone. Instead - the sound of water lapping against the walls of the tub nearly masked her own quickened breathing as Sylvanas spread her legs further and hung one over the edge entirely to accept the deep, slow thrusting of the fingers spreading her. This time Jaina was more careful. She didn’t bring her so close to climax again so quickly. But every time Sylvanas’s moans grew louder or she fell silent completely she gave her hair a gentle tug - keeping her present and all too aware. 

The look on her face was divine. Flushed and half-gone and her full lips parted for the quiet, keening moans escaping the back of her throat. It was so worth the slight ache in her arm and discomfort of her knees against the floorboards. It would have been worth a hell of a lot more than that, really. Knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that pleasure was the only thing on her lover’s mind. 

She pressed closer to the tub as she stretched her with a third finger, sliding her arm beneath her beloved’s head and holding it close to herself as she bent her own and kissed along the tender edge of her ear, finding one of the rings in it and biting the metal gently. A soft, sharp breath left her when Sylvanas shuddered in response and pressed the side of her face into her arm. 

Sylvanas was coming apart at the seams. She could barely catch her breath - barely even think as she shifted and pulled her arm from between them to wrap around Jaina’s neck. She needed to hold onto her before she lost it completely. Her lover had never toyed with her this long in all their years together and her entire body was a trembling, quivering mess - even her fingertips against her beloved’s shoulder. She couldn’t have begged for release if she wanted to. Moments felt like hours as Jaina worked her body in a way only she could. And those lips against her ear..those teeth...sending tingles down her scalp and into her spine.

But even now as much as she enjoyed making her wait - having her so pliant in her hands - Jaina could tell her lover had had enough. That she couldn’t speak but she was asking for relief in every uncontrolled jerk and twitch and whine. She rested her cheek against Sylvanas’s as she found her clit again - this time rubbing against it in slow, deliberate circles and allowing her lover to move any way she needed to. 

With her ear so close to Sylvanas’s mouth she could hear everything. And it left her breathless and stunned as the older woman tried to whisper her name over and over again as though that was all she could remember until she felt her clench around her fingers and grasp her shoulder almost painfully. 

Sylvanas pulled Jaina close when she came, shaking and exhausted in her arms with a series of soft, weak groans that were barely audible by the time they escaped. And still, Jaina worked at her, drawing the mind-numbing experience out longer than she could ever remember. 

Eventually, though, when she felt Sylvanas jerk her hips away as much as she could manage at the moment she stopped and instead brushed her lips against her glistening brow and removed her fingers gradually to run her hand slowly up her beloved’s side. Even that was almost too much. Everything was. Her skin was alight with sensation. Every inch of it. She couldn’t help but wonder if she’d ever be able to think clearly again as Jaina lifted her head to look at her. “Oh, love…” The mage breathed softly, reaching up to caress the tears away from her face before she kissed the corner of her mouth. “You’re okay, my beautiful one. You needed that.” Sylvanas’s eyelids fluttered and Jaina saw the faint glow of her eyes for only a moment before the expression on her face relaxed and the very corner of her mouth turned up just so. 

“Mmm.” That was all she could manage. She was far too distracted by the ebb and flow of sated pleasure still washing over her - more gently, now - and buffered by the feeling of Jaina holding her half out of the water as she slowly came back down. 

Eventually, they both moved together in order for her to get out of the bath on shockingly unsteady legs. She leaned on Jaina as they both worked to get her dried and into the bedroom where she fell into the soft, downy blankets with Jaina on top of her. “Rest.” Jaina propped herself up on an arm beside Sylvanas’s head on their pillows and guided her damp hair away from her face before stroking the curled back of her hand down her cheek. “We have all night.” 

Sylvanas reached up and took Jaina’s hand in hers, turning her head to press a kiss to each of her fingertips individually. 

“You are so beautiful, Sylvanas.” Jaina whispered as she watched her until she was finished and lowered her hand to rest her fingertips against the dark bruise near her collarbone. 

“Mm. Perhaps. But I’ve got nothing on you. And you’re a damn good lay on top of it.” 

Jaina snorted - caught completely off guard - and it turned into a fit of laughter rather quickly. The ease and innocence of the sound and the look on Jaina’s face had Sylvanas rolling her onto her back with a smirk and drawing one of her legs up against her hip. “Are you making fun of me, Jaina Proudmoore?” She asked in a tone that was so laced with a mixture of sarcasm and sultriness she could only laugh harder. 

“No, Sylvanas. I just really, really love you.” She finally managed as she settled into the comfortable feeling of her lover’s weight pressing down against her. 

“Mm, how fortunate. Because I really, really love you, too.”

"Belong To You (Remix)"  
Sabrina Claudio  
(feat. 6LACK)

Take care of me  
Talk all day then at night fall in deep  
Stimulate me  
I want you mental and physically  
I belong to

I belong to you, you, you

Don't come my way  
If you ain't here for love  
Don't you dare, stay  
Put some time aside I set vibes in LA  
It ain't strictly physical but I know that  
I wanna lay where you lay  
So I think you should fuck with me, yeah  
You don't want to take me out the street, yeah  
I can give you everything you need, yeah  
Need you in my reach, yeah  
You know I fall really, really deep, yeah  
You can put your lovin' when I speak, yeah

I belong to you  
I belong to you

I belong to you, you, you

Take care of me  
Talk all day then at night fall in deep  
Stimulate me  
I want you mental and physically

I belong to you, you, you  
I belong to you, you, you  
I belong to you

Song inspo courtesy of [Atronave.](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atronave/pseuds/Atronave%22)

(This is becoming a habit XD.) 


	6. Unsteady

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

Liadrin winced as another shuddering groan left Alleria from behind her and she found herself wishing she’d prepared more tea in advance. It was going to be a long night.

“I’ll be right there, Alleria. Stay calm.” She cooed as she dropped the packet of herbs into the steaming mug of water in her hand and turned to make her way over to the older woman. 

Alleria was fairly certain she was in hell. There was no other explanation. Her entire body ached and she’d been in the middle of a cold sweat for hours. Her muscles were sore from tensing and grabbing onto the bed sheets she’d ruined long ago. But as Liadrin approached she forced herself into some semblance of calm - at least for a moment. It was short-lived, though, when she found her hands were trembling too badly to hold the mug being offered to her. 

“It’s alright. Move over.” Alleria managed that, at least, rocking slightly as she sat up in bed. Liadrin brought the mug to her lips and watched carefully as she drank - never giving her too much at a time to avoid scalding her.

The whispers were gone. For now. But that didn’t give her much relief, really. The raw, physical discomfort was more than enough. When she’d managed at least half of the foul-tasting tea Liadrin sat it aside and reached for the soft, dry cloth she’d tucked in her robes, wiping Alleria’s face in it and lowering her back down so her head rested on the pillow opposite where it had been before. She pulled the sweat-dampened one away and tossed it to the floor with the sheets she’d already changed once. 

“Oh, Little Bird.” She whispered as Alleria’s eyes shut tightly against the relentless ache in her head. “We’ll get through this. I promise you. It’ll pass.” Alleria didn’t recognize the name. All she knew was she found it oddly soothing. Especially the gentleness with which Liadrin said it.

She wasn’t surprised as Alleria reached for her hand in response. This wasn’t the first time since she’d gotten worse. She just took it tightly in her own and held it in her lap as she moved to get more comfortable where she sat. 

It took a while - but eventually, she seemed to drift into an uneasy sleep. And Liadrin rushed to take advantage of the time she had - gathering what needed to be washed and piling it next to the door downstairs for the help she’d ordered to come around later to collect. She’d known it was going to be bad and luckily she’d had the foresight to prepare. 

She managed to down some honied grain in the darkened kitchen if only to keep her energy reserves up before she made her way back upstairs only to find Alleria trying desperately to get out of the bed. She rushed over to her as she managed to get herself up and her legs crumpled beneath her almost immediately. But even as Liadrin held her up she struggled to make it to the window near the bed. Liadrin moved her towards it silently and pulled her hair from her eyes as she leaned out of it and her body did away with what little tea she’d managed to drink.

“It’s okay.” Liadrin whispered when there was nothing left and Alleria slumped against the window sill with her shaking hands hanging over it. The coolness of the night was almost pleasant against her burning skin. 

“Make it stop.” She breathed as Liadrin stroked through her hair - brow furrowed and her eyes trained on Alleria’s pained expression. “Please. Make it stop.” 

She wished she could. Wished there was a way to magically pull her from this...but unfortunately, this moment was all too human. All too unavoidable. “Come on. Let’s lay down.” She murmured as she guided Alleria’s arm around her shoulders and walked over with her. “In the morning we’ll get you cleaned up. For now, just try to rest.” 

The night dragged on for what felt like years. Alleria only managed to find relief in sleep for only brief moments at a time. And instead of better - it always seemed to be getting worse. Shortly before dawn after fading in and out of consciousness for a while she found herself firmly in Liadrin’s arms, leaned back against her chest. “You were seizing.” She murmured tiredly, her head leaned back against the headboard. “Go back to sleep. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You’re safe.” 

Somewhere deep in the recesses of her mind where there was some semblance of sanity left she knew that was true. And that was enough for now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alleria looked up from the book she’d been buried in for the better part of the morning as Liadrin knocked on the doorframe of her bedroom despite the fact that she hadn’t left her alone for a single night in the week they’d been in the spire together. “Hey, Little Bird.” She greeted softly with a faint smile before entering the room. She removed the book from the older woman’s hands and pulled the chair she’d spent so much time in over the past days in front of her to sit in.

“Liadrin...you’re making me nervous.” 

The priestess shook her head and reached out to stroke over Alleria’s hand. “No need to be nervous. I just came to tell you that it’s perfectly fine if you decline - but Vereesa is on leave and she wanted to see you. And...so does Arator.” 

Alleria moved so she was seated on the edge of the bed, turning her hand over so Liadrin’s was in the center of it. She lifted her other one and traced along the delicate lines of it idly. 

Liadrin found it distracting and she couldn’t help but wonder if that was her intent. Until Alleria answered her.  
“Don’t let me hurt them.” 

When she looked up from the gentle touches to her hand she found Alleria’s eyes on her - locked intently on her reaction. “If you would only tell me why you think that’s a real possibility - I would more willingly be able to agree and react.” 

_Do you have any idea what she’s capable of? Do you have any idea the torment she could unleash upon you?_

Alleria shut her eyes for a moment and drew in a slow, deep breath before looking at the wall on the far side of the room over Liadrin’s shoulder. 

“I was what attacked my sister that night.” She sounded so dejected. So devoid of will. “Before...before what you saw in my dream...I had it under control. I mean...the whispers were always there. But now...the past year it’s been deafening. They tell me to do things. All the time. And the worst part is that I’m _capable_ of them. And that sometimes I almost feel like I want to do them.”

She hadn’t noticed the tears forming in her eyes - nor did she feel them slipping hotly down her face until Liadrin lifted her hands to stroke her cheeks. “Do you think I can’t feel it, Alleria?” She asked quietly as sky-blue eyes flickered to her own darker ones. There was so much fear in them. So much pain. “I feel it every time I’m near you. Every time I’ve held you...carried you… For a week, now. And before then, even. Have you not noticed I’ve dampened what’s inside of me to make this more bearable for you?”

Alleria nodded faintly as her brow furrowed and her jaw angled more sharply when she clenched it so tightly Liadrin could feel the muscles there tensing beneath her palms. “And have I ever - even once - recoiled? Or even so much as hesitated?” 

“No.” Alleria breathed - her voice trembling as she clenched her hands into fists against her own legs to stop them shaking, too. 

Liadrin stood from her chair at the same time as the older woman leaned forward and pressed her face against the silken robes flowing down the front of her body. Eventually - after a long while of just silence - she wrapped her arms around the back of Liadrin’s legs and the Priestess stroked slowly over her hair in response as she looked down at her. “I never will.” The assurance was barely audible to either of them. But they both knew she meant it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Liadrin hung around in the kitchen as Alleria paced near the entrance of the spire. She could feel the panic coming off her so strongly it was making her sick. But she had to be open to her - had to know if something was going to go wrong. She’d been mildly surprised to see her in her armor, though. She looked almost normal - just tired. Liadrin couldn’t even imagine how tired she was going to be after this, though.

She didn’t need to turn to know Alleria could see them in the distance. She could tell by the absolute silence in the room signifying she’d finally stopped pacing. But when they entered she had no choice but to turn enough to watch. Just in case. She knew it would destroy everything they’d been working towards if Alleria slipped even slightly and she was determined not to let that happen. 

“Lady Sun.” Vereesa greeted with a warm smile as she approached her and wrapped her arms around her oldest sister tightly. Alleria returned the gesture - swallowing thickly as her heart hammered painfully in her chest. Her eyes were focused on the young man standing in the doorway. The unsure expression on his face - the worry. “It’s been too long.”

“It has, Ranger-General. Look at you.” She pulled back and held the younger woman at arms’ length. She could still remember vividly the first time she’d seen Sylvanas like this. She’d been so proud...and so thankful. Thankful that it was a burden she would never have to bear. “Little Moon...what are you now, then? Big Moon?” 

Vereesa chuckled softly and leaned in to kiss her sister’s cheek. But she could see where her attention truly was. And she was glad. “I’ll go catch up with Liadrin if you don’t mind.” 

“I...yes. Of course.” Vereesa finally caught her gaze and gave her arm a gentle squeeze before she made her way toward Liadrin, though she couldn’t help but keep her head turned enough that she would be able to hear. Arator had spent most of his life with her and Rhonin. He’d been overjoyed when she’d returned...and she’d spent many a night consoling him in the year since. But she found it nigh impossible to be angry with her sister for it.

Arator glanced towards the ground as his mother approached him. He’d been mostly protected from the life Alleria had been living. It was easy enough. Their name held sway and there weren’t many who were like to cross them. But the hurt he felt was still very real. He just couldn’t bring himself to understand. 

“Arator…” He looked up as Alleria murmured his name and visibly wilted. He was trying so hard to be strong. To be the warrior he’d always been told his mother and father were. “Would you like to walk with me?” She knew that feeling all too well. The pressure of pretending you weren’t breaking into pieces inside. She was feeling it right then. More, perhaps, than she had ever felt it before. 

“Yes.” His voice was quiet and soft. Pleasant. As Windrunner mens’ voices often were. It only served to drive the knife deeper into her chest - a knife she had placed there, herself. 

_A pawn of the light. And from your own flesh. A mistake that needs correcting._

For the first little while, they walked side by side in silence - unaware of the eyes watching them from the doorway of the spire. Unaware that their own conversation had fallen completely silent in the tenseness of the moment. Surprisingly, Alleria was the first to speak. As much as she was hurting - struggling just to be near him. “I know you’re probably angry with me. You have every right in the world to be. I could never express just how sorry I am. For...for missing _everything_. I would give anything to do it again. I would never have left you.” 

Arator stopped and brought a hand up to his face, running it upwards over his eyes and through his hair. “You...did that for our home. I...I understand why you did that. But...when you came back I thought...I thought…” 

Alleria turned to face him and reached towards him tentatively only to find her hand pushed away. 

At the spire, Liadrin reacted immediately, past Vereesa only to find herself stopped by the formidable woman. “Give it a moment.” The youngest of the Windrunner sisters murmured quietly, her eyes trained on Alliera and her nephew. 

“Arator...I’m sorry.” She breathed, reaching for him again as she took a step closer. “Let me make it right. Please.”

Arator could feel his eyes burning with tears he refused to allow to fall. “Please?!” He demanded - his voice quiet and broken...and angry. “Please? All my life...all my life she told me you were a _hero_. One of the bravest Rangers Quel’thalas has ever seen. And..and you...you’re scared of _me_.”

Alleria could feel the panic rising in her chest. The whispers slithering over themselves like snakes constricting her mind. “I”m not scared of you, my son. Not at all. I’m...I’m scared of all the ways in which I’ve failed you. I’m scared I will never be able to convince you that you were the only light my heart knew for a thousand years…” 

He was so overwhelmed. Just hearing that...hearing she had never stopped caring despite what he’d convinced himself of for so long. He felt less like a man and more like a boy as he cleared his throat and turned his head away from her but it was no use. Alleria could see the way his eyes glistened in the setting sun of the courtyard and by the time the first quiet, strained sob left him she had him tightly in her arms. “I’m sorry.” She breathed into his hair as she shut her eyes tightly, ignoring the pain of touching him so directly. And ignoring the whispers as they raged through her like a storm. But she didn’t break. Not this time. “I’m so sorry. I’ll spend the rest of my days making it right. I promise you, Arator.” 

He was stiff in her arms at first. A mess of anger and pain and love that hadn’t been returned to him in so very, very long - but love Vereesa and his uncle had kept alive in him nonetheless. 

As they slid to the ground in unison and Vereesa cradled her son’s head against her chest Liadrin relaxed and let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. Gods, she’d never been so thankful for anything in her life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As good as the visit had gone Alleria was near collapse as she washed herself off. Utterly exhausted from holding the void at bay - even as little as she’d actually managed to. And Liadrin knew she wouldn’t eat tonight so she hadn’t even bothered. She just sat in her usual spot waiting for Alleria to come out of the bathroom. She was weary. Worried. And above all else - hurting for this woman she’d come to care for so deeply. And...proud. Undeniably so.

She watched as she came out of the bathroom still wrapping her towel around herself and frowned softly as the older woman seemed unable to look at her. “Alleria. You were wonderful today. I know how hard it was. You did so very well.” She murmured as she walked past where she was sitting towards the wardrobe on the other side of the room. 

When she didn’t respond she stood slowly and followed, reaching up to touch her shoulder lightly. She glanced down at the strange feeling of the skin beneath her fingertips and the older woman froze as she pushed some of her hair away gently to reveal an angry, reddened patch of skin that shone in the dim lighting of the room. “What is this, Little Bird?” She asked in a whisper. “Is this what was happening to you? Is this what I saw in that dream?” 

Silence. Deafening silence. 

Alleria turned her head as a sharp breath left her in response to the feeling of soft lips against her scarred flesh. “Never again.” Liadrin murmured before wrapping her arms around her carefully. “Not as long as I draw breath. Nothing will hurt you like that again.” 

She hadn’t been expecting the tenderness. The intimacy. She hadn’t experienced it...perhaps ever. “Why do you call me that?” She asked - her voice slightly raspy suddenly. But she rested her hand along one of the Priestess’s arms almost timidly, not really wanting the moment to end. 

“That’s what you’ve reminded me of for a long while, now. A broken little bird. A beautiful, terrified thing that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt will spread her wings again. If only you would let me in.” 

Alleria’s breath caught in her throat as Liadrin slowly released her - far too concerned with overstepping and scaring her to keep her still any longer. 

Alleria moved away from her and for a moment she regretted what she’d done. Regretted the moment her lips first touched Alleria’s skin as she turned to give her the privacy to dress. But it didn’t last long. 

“Would you hold me like that tonight?” Alleria’s voice was quiet as she tied the string that held the loose pants she slept in. She sounded so uncertain. Like she was scared Liadrin might deny her that comfort. “I...I didn’t mean-”

“Of course.” Liadrin responded as she turned to face her again - nothing but earnest honesty in her voice. “And on into the morning, if you like. For as long as you need.”

> A commision for the wonderful [@uninspiredp](https://twitter.com/UninspiredP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) .  
>    
>  Her writing is amazing, go read her stuff.<https://t.co/XMGrJzocUq>  
>    
>  [#alleria](https://twitter.com/hashtag/alleria?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#alleria_windrunner](https://twitter.com/hashtag/alleria_windrunner?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#liadrin](https://twitter.com/hashtag/liadrin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#lady_liadrin](https://twitter.com/hashtag/lady_liadrin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#WorldOfWarcraft](https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldOfWarcraft?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/pqykrydSYF](https://t.co/pqykrydSYF)
> 
> — yuval buzaglo (@Yoyuval) [December 11, 2018](https://twitter.com/Yoyuval/status/1072403843063926784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

  
  


"Unsteady"  
X Ambassadors 

Hold  
Hold on  
Hold on to me  
'Cause I'm a little unsteady  
A little unsteady  
Hold  
Hold on  
Hold on to me  
'Cause I'm a little unsteady  
A little unsteady

Momma  
Come here  
Approach  
Appear  
Daddy  
I'm alone  
'Cause this house don't feel like home

If you love me  
Don't let go  
If you love me  
Don't let go

Hold  
Hold on  
Hold on to me  
'Cause I'm a little unsteady  
A little unsteady  
Hold  
Hold on  
Hold on to me  
'Cause I'm a little unsteady  
A little unsteady

Mother  
I know  
That you're tired of being alone  
Dad I know you're trying  
To fight when you feel like flying

But if you love me  
Don't let go  
If you love me  
Don't let go

Hold  
Hold on  
Hold on to me  
'Cause I'm a little unsteady  
A little unsteady


	7. Tin Man

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

“I can’t believe we’ve finally found it.” Turalyon’s voice was full of reverence as he turned to look at Xe’ra - his expression one of awe and astonishment.

“Do not tell me you had lost your faith in the Light’s ability to guide you to your destiny.” Xe’ra’s voice surrounded him - blanketed him like soft down and wool and washed over him in the same way it always had. 

“Of course not.” He responded quickly. “It’s just...it’s been twenty years since she escaped. I had…” 

“Had what, Turalyon? Did you fear she had escaped the Light’s justice? She has. For long enough. It is time we put an end to this. Return her to me - that she may yet be redeemed.” There was a shift in her energy. A shift Turalyon had long grown accustomed to and didn’t pay much mind to. But it was one that made some of the other Lightforged on the ship uneasy. 

He turned away from her slowly and looked out the expansive front viewport of the ship at the planet in the distance. Home. His home. “What...what will you do with her? When I find her?”

“Perhaps you should be more concerned with the darkness she has brought with her to your world. Perhaps you should be more concerned with what she has done to your child in your absence.”

The Paladin’s expression hardened and he gripped the ancient bow he held in his hand more tightly. 

“Yes, Turalyon. Be angry. You have every right. I offered her nothing but warmth and love and acceptance - much as you did. But it was never enough. Now, go. Find her. I will help you make this right.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Liadrin sighed softly as she rolled away onto her side in her sleep and Alleria looked over at her with her brow furrowed. She was healthier, yes. The worst of everything had passed. And she actually found it easier to contend with the whispers now that she was in her right mind. But as the physical effects of her self-imposed torment faded, the all-too-real mental wounds were left open and raw.

The High Priestess slept with her every night, now. And did a fair job of chasing away the nightmares that plagued her. But she could do precious little about the emptiness. An emptiness filled only with hurt and betrayal and pain. Even when Arator or her sisters visited it was there. Gnawing at her insides. She had just gotten better at hiding it. 

“Liadrin.” Her voice broke as she spoke - and she hadn’t been expecting it to. The tone of it roused the Priestess into worry immediately and she sat up next to her - expecting to find anything other than what actually met her eyes. Behind the sadness that always seemed to darken the older elf’s gaze there was a perceptible measure of need. Of longing. 

“Yes?” Her voice was quiet as she met those softly glowing eyes in the darkness of the room. 

Alleria regarded her silently for a moment before moving herself closer until she was at her side and Liadrin looked down as she felt the warmth of touch on her inner thigh. The darkness behind it. And the trepidation. But still, she watched as deft, strong fingers began guiding her robe away from the pale skin of her thigh before it was exposed to the dim, greyish moonlight her eyes had already adjusted to. A short gasp escaped her when the roughness of Alleria’s fingertips made itself known - as though suddenly what was happening became real - and she reached to stop her. Gods, she didn’t want to stop her. 

Alleria’s eyes flashed up to her face as her brow furrowed. “Why?” She asked in a whisper as Liadrin turned her hand over and held it in her own. “Do you not find me attractive? I thought…”

“Little Bird…” Liadrin murmured as she reached for her and drew her close, pressing her cheek against the side of her head and stroking the nape of her neck. “You’ve no idea how attractive I find you. But...I’m certain you...if this is what you’re needing, you can find it with someone you feel that way about, as well. When you’re healthy.” 

Alleria pulled back slowly and glanced up at the messy bun the Priestess usually kept her hair in before she reached up with one hand to untie it, allowing her abundance of soft, auburn hair to fall down around her shoulders. “Who ever said I didn’t feel that way?” She asked as she stroked her fingers through it slowly, guiding it over Liadrin’s shoulder and then gracing the backs of her knuckles along the side of her neck. 

Liadrin felt the goosebumps rising along her skin as she stroked Alleria’s palm with her thumb as much to distract herself as anything else. “Why didn’t you say anything if that’s the case, then? After all this time?”

The caressing of her neck stopped, then, and Alleria’s forever slightly wild eyes fell to the way she was tending to her hand. Liadrin’s skin was so soft against hers. A contrast thousands of years of fighting had seen to personally. “Look at you.” She finally murmured. “How pretty you are - how perfect. You mean something to this world. My life...has been a series of grave mistakes. Mistakes you can physically feel any time you’re near me. And ones that you can’t.” 

“Many things happened in your absence, Alleria.” Liadrin’s voice was quiet yet full of the emotion she was feeling. “I am more familiar with the feeling of imprisonment and torture than you might think. I have used the light to turn that pain against the one who captured my expedition. My faith has wavered. My abilities have faltered. Even failed me as a result. If you think your demons make you unworthy of whatever it is that you want...you are wrong. Unless that same belief is true of me, as well.”

“No!” Alleria’s response was immediate and adamant. “I...I just don’t...I don’t want to hurt you. To damage you.”

Liadrin lifted Alleria’s hand gently and pressed her lips against her palm before she released it. “You wouldn’t. Just as I would never hurt you.” 

Instead of pulling back Alleria leaned closer and Liadrin could feel the way her fingers trembled as she ran the tips of them over her lips and along her cheek. It was as though she didn’t know what to do. And perhaps it had never occurred to Liadrin that she really didn’t. 

“When...when was the last time someone touched you out of love, Alleria?” She asked as she grazed her jaw and chin with the bridge of her nose and then rested her forehead against the other woman’s gently.

“I don’t remember.” 

Liadrin’s breath caught in her throat when those words met her ears. So simple. Such a short, concise statement. But even still it washed every ounce of worry away and as her lips brushed Alleria’s for the first time she could almost feel the shadow moving beneath them. Like a warm, dangerous undercurrent. But part of her, nonetheless. Part of this woman she had tried so hard not to fall for. But gods, had she fallen. And she didn’t care if she ever got back up. She would lay in the dust and the grime of wherever she had landed for as long as Alleria would have her. Of that much she was certain. 

At first, she guided Alleria’s lips with her own - soft, gentle movements full of all the care and patience in the world. And all of it for her. It left Alleria more breathless than anything ever had in her life. Their hearts pounded almost in unison as Liadrin moved her lips to the side - kissing the corner of her mouth and up along the underside of her jaw to the lobe of her ear as her hand came up to tangle in her golden hair. “With everything that I am...I promise you that is the only way I will ever touch you.” 

The words were murmured in such a way against her ear it made her ache, suddenly. Ache for what Liadrin was offering her. For all of it. And her hands found the front of her robes and tugged at them earnestly 

Liadrin moved nearer at her urging and with a natural ease she wouldn’t ever have seen coming they fell against each other - Alleria on her back beneath her with her strong thighs on either side of her slender hips and her hands still buried in her robes. This time - when they kissed - it was breathless and passionate and hungry and Liadrin could feel the older elf rolling her hips up against her own already. One of her hands fell to hold them still as she broke the kiss, panting quietly against the front of Alleria’s throat. “I’m going to give you everything you need.” There was a tremor in her voice as her thumb found the hollow of her hip over her shirt. “But you have to let me.” 

Alleria drew in a long, slow breath as she released Liadrin’s clothing and instead moved her hands into her hair. “I’m sorry.” She responded as she looked down at her. Liadrin lifted her head, then, and kissed the inside of her arm a bit breathlessly. “Don’t be. Just relax. Just trust me.” 

“I’ll try.”

“That’s all I need, Little Bird. Just try for me.” 

Alleria nodded and returned the shallow kiss she was rewarded with, though it was difficult to keep still as she felt the warmth of Liadrin’s hands on the skin of her stomach as she guided her shirt up along her body. She lifted her shoulders for Liadrin as she pulled it the rest of the way off before settling back down for her, her fingertips just barely touching the priestess’s arm as she looked down at her. 

“What is it?” Alleria asked - her voice just barely a whisper as she reached up to guide Liadrin’s hair behind her ears and out of her face. The way the younger woman’s eyes trailed over her made her slightly nervous. She was used to hungry gazes. But that wasn’t what this was. 

Liadrin shook her head softly as she held herself up on one hand and traced the lines of hardened muscle in her stomach as they tensed in response. “You.” She breathed, looking up at her again as her palm covered the ample curve of her breast and she leaned down, finding the freckles dusting her chest with her mouth. “I’ve never laid eyes on something so beautiful.” She murmured against the flushed skin. 

The way Liadrin touched her...looked at her...she didn’t know what to do with herself. Where to put her hands, where to look. But more often than not they were in her hair, tugging or kneading her scalp as she teased her with her tongue - flicking it against her nipples and leaving damp, glistening patches of skin to cool against the night air in the room. Eventually, she knelt up and tugged her robes off herself when she found them too much of a hindrance but she was in such a hurry to get back to Alleria the glimpse was all too brief..though she didn’t think it was a sight she would ever forget. Even it was a bit hazy as she felt hot breaths against her skin just beneath her navel after a still tingling trail of kisses and nips had already been left down the front of her body. 

Her eyes were heavily lidded as she looked down at the younger woman when she paused only to find her looking back. Their eyes stayed locked for a moment as Liadrin shifted her weight in order to pull her leggings off. But instead of staring this time her eyes flickered downward for only a moment before she used her hands to spread her thighs further, caressing the firmness of them and brushing her nose through the dusting of golden curls between them. 

“Liadrin…” Alleria whispered, propping herself up on her elbow in order to better allow herself to see. The Priestess rested a hand on her lower abdomen in response to hearing her name and her mouth trailed lower and to the side where she trailed her tongue up the crook of her inner thigh - her cheek nearly touching the place she wanted to taste so badly. “You..you don’t have to, if…” 

Her words were cut off by a shuddering moan as that hand pressed more firmly against her stomach and Liadrin parted her with her tongue. She collapsed back against the bed - her chest heaving and her hands grasping the sheets beneath them desperately. She couldn’t breathe without moaning or gasping Liadrin’s name as she lapped languidly at her clit - using her lips to cradle it in her mouth and occasionally parting them to allow the hot, quick puffs of breath escaping her to stimulate her as well. 

Alleria came within mere moments not long after the younger woman pressed one of her long, slender fingers inside her, bucking up against her and crying out hoarsely for her as her thighs clenched against the sides of her face and she shook uncontrollably. It was such an overwhelming sensation she almost felt panicked by it. Until Liadrin moved back up her body and cradled the back of her head against her shoulder. “Ride it out, Alleria.” She breathed against her ear, focusing on the way she spasmed around her finger and not moving another inch until it seemed to have ebbed somewhat. 

Now that she’d come once Liadrin was glad to find her slightly less on-edge as she began moving her hand again, this time staying with her - kissing her face and her neck and allowing her to grind up against her palm freely as she sought release once again. More slowly this time. But she found it soon enough - and it was no less life-altering than the first had been. 

Before she could even focus her vision she had slipped a hand between them, struggling with how she trembled to find the hem of Liadrin’s pants. “No, Little Bird.” She murmured as she settled against her fully and reached down, finding both her wrists and pulling them up and away from herself. “You’ve given me more than enough tonight.” 

The weight of that reassurance - of knowing she truly was all Liadrin had wanted...of knowing her pleasure could matter so much...was far too much to process as her head spun with the waves of sensation still wracking her body. Unbeknownst to herself - she had begun to cry. 

Liadrin was unbothered. She simply ran one of her hands through her hair as she watched her. 

“Let go. Let it out, Alleria.”

And when she finally did, instead of judgment - she found only the warm, gentle strength of Liadrin’s arms encircling her. 

She was exhausted when she finally relaxed against the younger woman - allowing Liadrin to pull a sheet over them both more out of concern for the way Alleria still shivered now and again than for anything else. 

“Alleria...open your eyes for me.” She whispered as she shifted to lay on her side and guide the woman’s face so she could see it. 

Liadrin’s face came into focus gradually and she let her arm fall slowly to the side to rest across the side of her neck, touching her jaw with the tip of her thumb. “What is this?” She asked quietly. “I’ve never…”

“What I promised you.” Liadrin responded with a soft smile. “We’ll figure it out as we go. Together, if that’s what you want.” 

She saw the last of the tension and fear ease from Alleria’s face - at least for now - and the sense of peace that settled over her, as a result, caused her to pull the older woman closer. As though if she just held her tightly enough she would feel it, too. And perhaps she did. She was already nearly asleep - so much so that Liadrin could barely make out the single word that fell from her lips. “Please.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaina sat up in bed groggily and looked over as Sylvanas finished latching their bedroom window shut. She looked wilted - her ears pressed back almost comically and a stunned expression on her face. “Mm...did you have a bad dream, my darling? Or is it colder to you than it is to me? Come back to bed.”

Sylvanas huffed quietly and made her way back to bed and Jaina couldn’t help but smile at how pitiful she looked as she reached up to try and move one of her ears back into a more dignified position. “We’re keeping the window shut at night from now on.” She muttered as her ear flicked slightly against Jaina’s fingertips. 

Jaina’s brow furrowed and she turned to face her wife with an incredulous expression on her face. “What in the name of the gods is going on with you?” 

“I...just...haven’t heard that sound in a few centuries, that’s all.”

Jaina was getting genuinely concerned, now, and she reached for one of Sylvanas’s hands to give it a gentle squeeze. “What sound, my love? Tell me what’s happening...I can’t help you unless-”

“Alleria getting laid.” 

Jaina stared for a moment - glancing first towards the window and then back at Sylvanas. 

Who was singularly unamused by the fit of uncontrollable laughter her wife was suddenly overcome by.

"Tin Man"

Hey there, Mr. Tin Man  
You don't know how lucky you are  
You shouldn't spend your whole life wishin'  
For something bound to fall apart

Everytime you're feeling empty  
Better thank your lucky stars  
If you ever felt one breakin'  
You'd never want a heart

Hey there, Mr. Tin Man  
You don't know how lucky you are  
I've been on the road that you're on  
It didn't get me very far

You ain't missin' nothin'  
'Cause love is so damn hard  
Take it from me darlin', you don't want a heart

Hey there, Mr. Tin Man  
Glad we talked this out  
You can take mine if you want it  
It's in pieces now

By the way there, Mr. Tin Man  
If you don't mind the scars  
You give me your armor  
And you can have my heart


	8. Soldier

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

“When it becomes pertinent information, I would imagine.” She responded before turning around in his arms and reaching up to stroke through some of the waves of red hair that the gentle breeze had moved out of place.

“Do you not think it is pertinent now?” He asked as his brow furrowed in worry. “You’re a military leader...you’re putting yourself-”

“Our mother had plenty of children, Rhonin. Do you think every time she was a couple months pregnant she stopped serving our people?” She pulled away from him but gave his hand a gentle squeeze before making her way towards the bedroom to retrieve her pack. As she slung it over her shoulders she listened to him approach slowly before he moved around her to sit on the edge of the bed. 

“No, of course not.” He finally admitted as she moved to stand in front of him and gave his beard a gentle tug. 

“Then stop worrying. I will know when it’s time.” She bent down, then, and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “A portal would be appreciated. If you can stop fretting long enough, that is.”

Rhonin laughed quietly as he stood - looking both amused and chastised as he opened the requested portal for her without looking. “I’ll see you soon, then?” He asked as her arms slipped around him and he returned the embrace warmly. 

“Soon. Within the week, I should think - if all is well.” 

But, as was all too frequently the case in their lives, things just had a way of not going according to plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Liadrin woke before Alleria, which she found unsurprising considering how exhausted she’d been. She couldn’t help but indulge herself for a while - watching the way her bare chest rose gently with her slow, easy breathing. Her lips were still faintly kiss-swollen - parted as they were - and her hair was, admittedly, an absolute mess. But she was beautiful. Painfully so. In an exotic way that was uncommon even for their own kind.

When she was sure the chance of her waking any time soon was rather slim she slipped over her silently and out of the bed to find one of her hair-holders on the end table. She still couldn’t take her eyes off the older woman as she pulled most of her hair up into a loose, messy ponytail and glanced around the room for her robes only to see them tangled hopelessly in the bed sheets. Instead of risking waking her she found Alleria’s shirt, instead, and looked down, stroking over the soft green material in her hands. She felt warmth in her cheeks as memories of the previous night came flooding back. Strong thighs quaking against the sides of her face - desperate, raspy moans and strong hands restraining themselves in her hair. 

She hadn’t even noticed the sleepy gaze that had landed on her until she glanced over at Alleria again. But the soft smile she was rewarded with was something she’d never seen before. And something she hoped to see many times again. 

“I didn’t notice those last night.” Alleria murmured as she gestured towards Liadrin’s exposed chest - at the metal jewelry that glinted in the sunlight on either side of each of her nipples. 

Liadrin winked and it made Alleria’s smile widen as she watched the priestess slide her shirt over her head. “You were preoccupied.” She responded as she moved towards the bed only to find herself tugged on top of her. As she scrambled a bit to get one knee to the bed on either side of the other woman’s hips Alleria found the front of her shirt with her hands and pulled her into a long, lingering kiss. 

“Alleria, gods…” Liadrin murmured against her lips as her fingertips trailed along the tattoo that spanned the length of the side of her face. “What’s gotten into you?”

“You.” She responded with an absolute serious expression before she returned the wink Liadrin had given her earlier. 

As the priestess’s responding laughter slowly faded she leaned sideways onto one arm and began attempting to right the older woman’s hair rather fruitlessly. 

_She regrets everything. Had you not awoken she would have been gone. Have you become so blind?_

Alleria’s expression fell and she turned her head away from Liadrin’s attention as her hands left the younger woman’s body - though it looked like she didn’t know where to put them instead. Liadrin’s brow furrowed and she felt doubt slip into her - worry that she shouldn’t have been so weak. That she shouldn’t have expressed her feelings so quickly, if at all. “Alleria?” Her voice was soft and try as she might she couldn’t keep the doubt out of it. “If...if last night was too much...if this is too much…” She began to pull away from her and Alleria shut her eyes tightly for a moment before resting a hand tentatively on her thigh to stop her. 

“What’s going on?” She asked as she sat up on Alleria’s lap. 

And for the first time, Alleria gave voice to what was in her head. Each word came out slowly - apprehensively. 

“They say you regret last night. That you were...that you were trying to leave before I woke this morning.” 

She lifted a hand to her own face to catch one of her tears before it fell and drew in a sharp breath. “You can, you know. You can leave. I would understand.”

Liadrin didn’t respond at first - instead reaching down to guide her to sit up against herself with a hand on the back of her neck. She wrapped her other arm around her broad shoulders strongly and kissed first her cheek, then her temple. “The last thing in the world that I want to do is leave you. And I could never regret what happened last night. Not unless it hurt you. Did it?” 

Alleria shook her head as she buried her face against Liadrin’s chest and grasped her shirt against her back. She drew her knees up behind the younger woman, effectively trapping her in her lap. 

“Little Bird...you should always tell me. No matter how hard it is. You should tell me what they say to you. Especially if it’s about me.” 

Alleria pressed her face more firmly against Liadrin and the priestess cradled the back of her head as she waited patiently - ready to do or say whatever was needed. 

“I’ve never been so terrified.” Alleria finally whispered. Liadrin leaned back so she could cradle her cheek, guiding her to look up at her. 

“Of what, Little Bird?” 

“Of...of this. Of this feeling. Of allowing myself to have it knowing you could realize at any given point in time that I’m not worthy. That I’m too tainted to even look at you, much less touch you. Of falling in love with you. They’ll take you from me. It’s better for them if I’m alone.”

Liadrin's face softened and she couldn’t help the bristle of protectiveness she felt at the mention of the void and its poisonous whispers. “First of all, Little Bird, there is nothing in this world that I would allow to keep me from you. Second of all - don’t put so much pressure on yourself. I’m not asking you to fall in love with me.”

Alleria couldn’t help but be soothed by the words - the warmth and sincerity in Liadrin’s voice. A voice that slowly, over the course of their constant time together, had begun keeping the ones in her head at bay. At least enough that she could think clearly more often than not. She leaned away, then, to settle herself back into bed, and took Liadrin’s hand into her own. She looked down at the fine lines of her fingers as she twined her own with them and stroked her delicate wrist with her thumb. “You didn’t have to ask me to. It’s just...happening. And I’ve no hope of stopping it. Even if I wanted to.” 

That revelation was almost more than Liadrin could bear. She hadn’t even allowed herself to hope… She’d thought, perhaps, Alleria found her attractive. That she found her company agreeable. And that had been enough for her. It would’ve been enough just to be allowed to remain in her presence. To personally ensure her well-being and watch her when she finally began to thrive. But to be loved by her in return? 

“You can expect nothing but patience from me, Little Bird.” Liadrin responded gently as she slowly moved from her lap and leaned over her to press a soft kiss against her lips. She stroked over her chest gently for a moment then reached for the blankets to cover her back up. She tried to act normally. But her heart was pounding. This was the most happiness she’d felt in centuries. “I’m hungry, so I know you must be starving. Let me bring up some breakfast, hm?” She sat on the edge of the bed and found Alleria’s hand back on her leg almost immediately. She found herself growing used to the darkness beneath the surface of the older woman’s touches. Almost enjoying it. 

“Mm. I’ve really been missing out not being with a woman all these years, haven’t I?” She responded as the disarming, light blue glow of her eyes met Liadrin’s slightly darker gaze. She was drowsy, again. It was adorable. 

Liadrin smiled as the tension in the room eased and covered Alleria’s hand with her own for a moment. “I’m quite confident I can make it a very rewarding experience for you. Now let me go take care of making sure you’re fed lest I worry to death, first.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaina moved from the bed with a quiet groan of protest after finding it empty of her beloved once again. She tossed a cloak over her shoulders and wandered through the room to the open doors of the balcony to find her standing on the far edge of it- staring out into the forests. She hadn’t seen her look this intense in years. Her ears shifted faintly now and again - her brow was furrowed and she hadn’t even bothered to get a top on before she’d gone out. If it wasn’t so concerning - it would have been quite the visual. But the tense lines of muscles in her shoulders and back only caused her to move closer more quickly.

She looked far away, somehow. Didn’t even notice Jaina’s approach until she’d come to stand beside her. She blinked and her eyes seemed to re-focus and a sudden breeze whipped her hair around her face and her bare shoulders as she looked at her. Very few times had she looked so far removed to Jaina as she did now in the grey light of pre-dawn. Too breathtaking to be real - much less her wife. 

“What’s happening, Sylvanas?” She asked as she slid her cloak off and reached up to wrap it around her beloved. “Talk to me.” 

The ear that was still facing the forest twitched as she remained silent for a moment. As though she was still listening. 

“Something is wrong.” She responded - her voice barely audible over the crashing of the waves nearby. Jaina couldn’t even fathom how she could hear anything else - even as good as she was. 

“What’s wrong?”

“The forests.” She breathed, glancing back towards them for a moment. “I can still feel them. That doesn’t stop when you pass the mantle to someone else. My family...we’ve always been able to feel it.” 

She turned her attention back inside towards their bedroom in response to the sound of little feet pounding up the stairs towards their door. “Mom! Mama!” An urgent knock caused her to move swiftly into their room. She handed Jaina her cloak and scrambled for a shirt only to find her wife already pulling one over her head for her before she headed to the door and opened it. Warren and Rialyn were standing at it looking worried. Which was unusual. It was rare they worried about anything, really. 

“What are the two of you doing out of bed so early?” Jaina asked as she knelt in front of them and Sylvanas moved towards them, lifting Rialyn against her hip and stroking through her hair. She hadn’t even thought the kids might feel it, too. “It’s Aunty Vereesa. We both kinda..woke up at the same time...and she was riding into the courtyard.” Warren responded as Jaina listened to him with every ounce of concern she’d have given any peer. They’d always treated them this way. Since they were old enough to talk - they’d known they were as important as any adult. As smart. 

“What about her, Warren?” Jaina urged as she reached out to fix his vest where it had shifted in his mad run up the stairs. 

“She’s outside...but not like usual. There’s Rangers with her. And she’s got on the nice armor. Like Mom’s.” He pointed to the armor stand in the corner of the room - at the Regalia displayed in all its resplendence. Armor they had played with countless times. With permission, of course. 

“I would have told her to come in but...but I didn’t…” 

“It’s alright, my love.” She kissed his forehead and gave one of his ears a gentle, loving tweak as she stood. “Go to your room. Take Rialyn with you. Your mother and I will go see what this is about.” 

Sylvanas slid Rialyn down onto her feet and watched as they obeyed wordlessly - as Rialyn reached for Warren’s hand and he took it, pulling her closer protectively. Yeah. They could feel it, too. And Vereesa...she’d have felt it more strongly than any of them.  
Sylvanas looed to Jaina for a moment - at the worry plaguing the usual softness of her features, and she pulled her close, suddenly - gripping her upper arm firmly and waiting for her to look at her before she spoke. “I will protect this family, Jaina.” She murmured as she tucked some of the white hair that had fallen into her eyes behind her ear. “No matter what’s happening - we won’t lose this. I won’t lose you.”

“I know we won’t, Sylvanas.” Jaina responded immediately, pulling her beloved’s head down to kiss the top of it. “I’ll make sure of it. Now let’s go see if your sister knows more than you do.” 

They walked down the stairs silently, hand-in-hand. Their feet hit the steps and then the floor at the same time. As though they were one unit - one person. Sylvanas had learned over the years what pace was comfortable for Jaina and was careful never to leave her behind. But now it was only second nature to her. To both of them. 

And as they stepped from their home into the courtyard it was easy to see why Warren had been too nervous to do the same. It was a full contingent. All of them on horseback with Vereesa in the front in full regalia. This was no visit. This was a formal military action. 

Vereesa slid from her saddle and began walking towards them as soon as her feet hit the ground - a parchment rolled and sealed in her hand. 

“Forgive me the formality, sister...Jaina...and for the earliness of the day. But there is something afoot that I have neither the experience nor the knowledge to unravel.” She passed the scroll to them and Jaina broke the seal, unrolling it and looking down at the scrawling Thalassian on the yellowed paper. 

_Sylvanas Windrunner, Former Ranger-General of Silvermoon & Archmage Jaina Proudmoore of the Kirin Tor, _

_It is requested, humbly, that you provide your expert services once again to Quel’thalas and her people. We face an as yet unknown threat. We do not expect this to consume an inordinate amount of your time, though it may. I expect it will be over quickly with your involvement taken into account. I hope this letter finds you well, and well-rested. You may need it._

_Anasterian Sunstrider_

Sylvanas’s eyes flicked up to Vereesa as Jaina rolled the parchment back up. “Send one of your runners to Sunstrider with our unconditional acceptance of his request for aid.” She didn’t even have to look at Jaina to know that would be her answer also. She could almost feel the resolve coming from her. “And by the gods...tell us what is going on.” 

Vereesa turned her head and barked out the order quickly - watching as one of the rangers broke from the pack for Silvermoon so quickly her and her mount were almost a blur together. Then her attention was on the rest of her rangers. She gestured at the third, currently unoccupied spire as she spoke. “Go get refreshed. Have something to eat. See about the horses and the armor.” 

For the first time, Sylvanas noticed Vereesa was clearly wounded. The way she held her arm - it wasn’t right. She reached forward and gave the armor at the top of her little sister’s chest a gentle tug, watching knowingly as she couldn’t help but wince in response. “Collarbone?” She asked as she led Vereesa inside between herself and Jaina. 

“Yeah.” She sighed, finally dropping the stilted formality of her position now that she was in the private company of her family. 

“Warren! I can feel your eyes, sneaky child. Come on down, then.” She knew he was watching through the banister of the stairs before she even turned to look at him. “Go fetch Liadrin. Your aunt needs some patching up. Take your sister, please.”

“Yes ma’am.” His reply was muffled from where he was very nearly hidden - but not quite. And he jogged down with Rialyn in tow headed for his other Aunt’s spire. 

Once her and Jaina had managed to scare up a rather rough, rushed breakfast and some tea to help Vereesa with her aches they all sat around the table in their kitchen - every ounce of attention on the youngest Windrunner sister. 

“Okay...Anasterian wrote that yesterday morning. I was to come straight to you with it. Of course, I didn’t listen. I come from a long line of women who enjoy not listening. I wanted to see for myself if this was really necessary. No offense, Jaina, but it was his mages that picked up the disturbance...and sometimes with Silvermoon mages, it might not be as serious as all that.”

Jaina smirked despite the seriousness of the situation. “None taken, Vereesa. Continue. Please.” 

She sighed heavily and leaned back in her chair when the first sip of tea hit the back of her throat and soothed the burning there. She’d been shouting orders for what felt like days with no rest and no relief aside from the luke-warm water from her canteen. “Along the Western border they have picked up...tampering. With the runestones. I thought it was silly that they found the threat so severe they would need both of you to accompany me to investigate. That was an incorrect assumption on my part, clearly. We found...the stranges creatures. Hooved. Tentacles hanging from their faces. Humanoid. Dark in color...and they wield magic. They have the ability to be invisible...even to me. In my own forests.”

“Vereesa…” Sylvanas leaned forward on the table - worry etched into her features. “The Draenei have been faithful allies of the Alliance for years...you know what they l-”

“That isn’t what we saw, Sylvanas. I’m no fool. They were...twisted. And they attacked us when we tried to apprehend them. And then...perhaps a dozen or so more just materialized around us. I lost two good women last night. And this isn’t the only disturbance that was detected. There are two more. One at each stone.” 

Jaina reached for Sylavans’s hand and took it in her own against the tabletop. “Why do you suppose they’re going for the stones and not actually taking them?”

Sylvanas turned her attention to the door as she heard Liadrin approaching from across the expanse of land that separated the family homes. “Because they wanted someone to know, I would imagine. And our mages monitor those wards more closely than anything else in our kingdom.” 

Vereesa’s concern seemed to intensify as Liadrin made her way into the room and pulled her from her chair to half-drag her to the sofa across the room. “Don’t struggle, Vereesa. You can’t just walk around injured like a damned fool. You have a military to run. Lay down.” 

She tried her best to protest but it seemed to be a lost cause and finally, she surrendered, grunting uncomfortably as Liadrin pushed her down so she could begin her work. 

“The Broken.” Jaina whispered without looking at Sylvanas. Sylvanas simply nodded an affirmation and stroked her thumb along Jaina’s hand. 

“How did they get here?” She finally looked up at her lover. 

“It’s best we deal with their presence for now. I have faith we can find one to question.”

“We need to get the children somewhere safe.” Jaina’s voice was so quiet only they could hear it - Vereesa’s complaints doing a fine job of covering their hushed conversation. 

“We will, Jaina. You have my word. Nothing is going to touch a hair on their heads.”

  


"Soldier"  
Fleurie

Soldier keep on marching on  
Head down till the work is done  
Waiting on that morning sun  
Soldier keep on marching on

Head in the dust, feet in the fire  
Labour on that midnight wire  
Listening for that angel choir  
You got nowhere to run

You wanna take a drink of that promise land  
Gotta wipe the dirt off of your hands  
Careful son you got dreamers plans  
But it gets hard to stand

Soldier keep on marching on  
Head down till the work is done  
Waiting on that morning sun  
Soldier keep on marching on

Quiet now, you're gonna wake the beast  
Hide your soul out of his reach  
Shiver to that broken beat  
Dark into the heat

  



	9. War Of Hearts

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

“Is it working?” The Draenei woman glanced up at Turalyon where he sat at the table he currently had his maps spread out across. He didn’t acknowledge she’d asked a question at first. Simply looked out the window of the long-abandoned cottage they’d set up camp in outside the borders of Quel’Thalas. It was hidden. It wouldn’t have even drawn a second glance from the Farstriders that sometimes passed within a quarter mile from it. And it was close. It was everything Turalyon needed it to be.

“Yes.” He finally responded as he turned his attention downward again. Thas’dorah lay across the table in front of him. He was barely able to touch it, now. It had always seemed to dislike having his hands upon it and now that they were so close to its source of power and to the family it belonged to it made that dislike known in more tangible ways. He was tired of stumbling over roots that hadn’t been there moments before. Of the small creatures that gnawed at the walls at night that he couldn’t seem to find. “Already the Farstriders presence has focused around the areas surrounding the stones. And now most of the active Rangers are being assembled around the spires.”

“That would leave her utterly inaccessible, Turalyon.” She sounded alarmed. She was. There was no way their small contingent could hope to be a match for even a single unit of Silvermoon’s Rangers. Much less Rangers gathered at Windrunner Spire...that could only mean one thing. And a unit of Rangers led by Sylvanas Windrunner? She feared their mission was doomed. And she feared what that meant for them. 

“They aren’t being assembled to protect her. They’re being assembled to move to the border in an attempt to find the reason behind the meddling with the wards. And once they’re there - they’ll have no way of getting back before we have our justice.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Liadrin’s rage burned savagely within her chest as she swung her staff into the face of the nearest foe to her- adding another splatter to the blood already drenching the sleeves of her robes. As another of her people fell she again tried to call upon the light. But it did not answer._

_The Army of the Light had already taken an entire village of people. And those that didn’t surrender willingly had been slaughtered. In the name of the very thing that would no longer answer her call. But now they were holding the line. As best they could. Jaina and Sylvanas were an unstoppable force at her side. They would **not** reach Windrunner Village. And she would not lose Alleria. _

_But the onslaught was ruthless and unending. And mortals grew tired all too quickly._

_As one of the Broken fighting for the army came up at Sylvanas’s side next to her Jaina tugged her backward even as she let another spell fly - incinerating another handful of the seemingly endless stream of foes as Sylvanas dispatched him with an arrow in his throat._

_“We can’t hold it much longer!” Sylvanas cried out - her voice hoarse from the orders she’d been shouting for hours now. They were all drenched in sweat and blood. A mixture of their own and their enemies’. And...they were losing._

_As the blood of the Quel’dorei seeped once again into the floors of the forests of their home the light did not answer her. As they were pushed further and further back to where Alleria was being held - it did not answer. As Jaina pulled back to teleport them to the spires...it did not answer._

_Alleria, upon seeing her family and her lover all but collapse to the floor, pushed passed the small unit of Rangers assembled in the spire - all of them prepared to make their last stand._

_“Liadrin!” She gasped as she looked at her robes - at the blood and gore falling from the end of her staff._

_The priestess looked into her eyes and shook her head, reaching up to stroke a trembling hand across her cheek. “I won’t let him take you. I swear to you. I won’t.”_

_She heard a commotion behind herself and turned quickly, watching as Sylvanas forced herself to her feet at Jaina’s side. The mage was bristling with arcane energy as her lover drew her bow in time with the rangers around them._

_“Reconsider our offer, General.” Turalyon’s voice boomed across the courtyard as he approached and a number of soldiers behind him drew their weapons. “Your sister for your people. The light **will** prevail. Either way.” _

_Sylvanas bared her teeth at him as they made their way into the courtyard and Liadrin pushed Alleria back. “Stay. Stay, my love. Please.”_

_“I am no General, Turalyon.” Sylvanas answered in a dangerous tone even as Jaina’s eyes blazed with the power she wielded. “I am not kept by the laws of any military. And I do not negotiate. You must be speaking of our sister. She will be arriving with a force that will outnumber you ten to one...any moment now. She does not negotiate, either. It runs in the family.” A lie. They were still spread along the border thanks to the Army’s distraction. But she was nothing if not good at a bluff._

_As she kept him distracted half the soldiers behind him found themselves frozen at Jaina’s hand - unable to so much as cry out a warning to him before it had already happened._

_Liadrin stepped from the spire just as the rest of Turalyon’s troops began filtering through the trees._

_And this time she didn’t call the light._

_She heard Alleria run towards her as she was engulfed in shadow. As the whispers caressed her skin and filled the holes the light had left in her. And a wall of darkness blocked her path before she could reach her. “I told you to stay, my darling.”_

_Her voice echoed hollowly with the powers coursing through her and for the first time Turalyon faltered in his conviction as shadow spread from her. Sylvanas glanced down when she felt the familiar touch of Void licking at her ankles and she looked over her shoulder - watching as the Liadrin’s darkened form hovered above the ground - her hands turned outwards towards their enemies. “I suggest you get your people out of my way, Sylvanas. I do not plan to stop.”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Liadrin was trembling as she opened her eyes and stared into the darkness of the bedroom. She reached out for Alleria shakily only to discover her already stirring as her hand pressed against her chest when she moved over her in her worry.

“You were dreaming.” Alleria murmured sleepily, cradling Liadrin’s cheeks and stroking them gently as she tried to focus her vision. “It’s okay.” 

Liadrin sat up against Alleria and wrapped her arms around her tightly for a moment, grasping at her bare back and pressing a kiss to her shoulder before she slipped out from beneath her. “It wasn’t a dream.” She murmured - and Alleria was alarmed at the tremor in her voice. “Get dressed, Little Bird. The Rangers march in the morning. We have to stop that from happening.” 

Alleria followed her out of bed and watched almost forlornly as she threw on a pair of leggings and a tunic. “Liadrin…” Her voice was an unsure murmur as she reached for her own pants, struggling to get them on when she found herself unable to look away from the younger woman. “Tell me what’s going on. Please. Is it about the border? Is it Sylvanas? Vereesa?” 

Liadrin recognized the panic rising in Alleria’s voice and that broke her out of her focused, frantic trance long enough that she finally looked over at her - with her pants half-on and her ears drooping faintly. She couldn’t help but go to her. “Alleria…” She looked into her eyes and took one of her hands in her own, stroking over her scarred knuckles and drawing her into an impossibly tight embrace. “Listen to me closely, okay?” 

Alleria nodded against her shoulder as her hands found the priestess’s slender sides. 

“Turalyon is here. And I’m not going to let him have you. I’m going to stop all of this from happening. I promise, Little Bird.”

_It’s your fault he’s come. She knows that. She will betray you. At the first sign of trouble, she will give you to him. How long will you suffer, then? Hundreds of years more? Thousands?_

Liadrin’s ear twitched faintly and her hand came to rest along the back of Alleria’s head. A faint echo of a hiss had met her ears. The voices in Alleria’s head became muffled - almost frantic for a moment and then were gone. And it was just the two of them again. 

“What did they say, Alleria?” She asked softly as she pulled back and reached behind her to gather her shirt from the bed. She helped the older woman into it and laced the front a bit tighter as she waited for her response. 

“That you would betray me.” She responded simply, trying not to let emotion edge her voice. Not right now. She needed to be strong now. For her sisters...for Liadrin. For everyone. “How...how did you know…”

“I would never betray you. I would fight for you til the end.” Liadrin pressed a quick kiss to her lips and took her hand to lead her out of the bedroom towards the stairs while she was still reeling from that admission.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Anar’alah, Liadrin...are you certain?” Sylvanas’s voice was soft but urgent as Jaina reached for her knee beneath the table and rested her hand over it.

Jaina looked resolved. Sylvanas looked strangely unsurprised. Vereesa, however, wasn’t faring well at the head of the table. And Alleria was looking dead at her. 

“I’m sure. If they are sent to the borders - I’m not certain how it will happen, but Turalyon will march upon Quel’thalas.” She glanced towards Alleria as she noticed how focused she was on her sister. 

“Vereesa, what’s on your mind?” She finally asked as everyone fell silent and looked at her - at the paleness of her face and the stoniness of her expression. 

“Nothing. I’m just thinking.” She stood and made her way around the table, standing behind Alleria and resting a hand on her shoulder. “Jaina, a portal to Kul Tiras, please. Get my niece and nephew out of here.” Sylvanas and Jaina stood as one - the mage already working the magic to bring the portal about as her wife ran towards the stairs to retrieve their children. But she stopped at the next statement. “And Alleria. I want all three of them as far away from here as possible.” She turned to face Vereesa slowly, worry etched into her features before she glanced down at the stricken expression on their eldest sister’s face. 

“She’s right.” Liadrin murmured, though there was regret and a touch of sadness in her voice. Jaina dispersed the half-formed portal and turned to look at them, as well. 

Vereesa’s expression sharpened as she watched Jaina fail to complete the summoning. “Lady Proudmoore, you are family. But you and everyone in this room answer to me, right now. I will do what I must to keep our family and our home safe.” 

“Vereesa...no one is disputing that. But give them a moment to say goodbye. There is time enough for that, at least.” 

Veresa’s brow furrowed and she looked down at Alleria for the first time only to find her sister clutching desperately at Liadrin’s hand - so much so that her knuckles were white and it must have been bruising the Priestess...who didn’t seem to mind in the least. “I...I….yes. Of course.” 

“Come, Little Bird.” Liadrin murmured as she helped her up and guided her outside with an arm wrapped around her firmly. 

The wall Alleria had so carefully constructed over the past few moments shattered once they were alone beside the spire under the cover of night and she pressed Liadrin into the side of the building before she buried her face against her neck. “Please.” She whispered, her shoulders already shaking with muffled sobs as Liadrin stroked along her back and held her own tears at bay for Alleria’s sake. “Please don’t make me leave. What if...what if I…”

“You won’t, my darling girl.” Liadrin breathed soothingly against her ear as she held her. “I’ll have Jaina key into you. I’ll help her. She’s struggled because of the void...but it’s doable. And I’ll check on you. Every night. Do you understand? You will not be alone, I swear to you.” 

For a while she just cried and, of course, Liadrin let her. 

But eventually, her tears ran out, even as she still held onto the younger woman. “We only just found each other.” She murmured - her voice so broken Liadrin couldn’t help but shut her eyes as she choked back a sob of her own. 

“And we will find each other again. As soon as this is over. You have my word, Alleria. And every day until then I will do nothing but wish I could rest easy with you in my arms.”

The older woman pulled back then, bringing her hands up to wipe her face free of the tears that had stained it.

“Now…” Liadrin reached up to fix some of Alleria’s hair - though it always seemed to be at least slightly wild. “Tell me what I need to know. Tell me how you came to be imprisoned...and why he’s coming for you.” 

Alleria looked at her for what felt like far too long. She looked almost ashamed. And Liarin reached out to stroke gently along her stomach before she leaned in and kissed her with more gentleness than she had ever known. 

“I used the void to save us. I had no choice. And once we got back to the ship...the Naaru you saw in my nightmare meant to destroy me. Turalyon...he begged for her to understand…and she relented. She agreed upon imprisonment, instead. Until I would allow her to burn the Void from me.” 

Liadrin’s face went blank as she buried the sudden rush of rage that reddened her ears all the way to their tips. “And then what did he do?” She asked in a low, even murmur. 

Alleria’s gaze fell to the ground. She looked exhausted...defeated...raw. 

“He let them take me to her. I...I never saw him again.” She whispered as she reached for her own arm across her chest and held it. 

“You never saw him again?” Liadrin asked as her eyes brightened and she felt every hair on her body stand on its end. “Did he not come when you were screaming to be helped? When you were crying out in pain?” She reached up and slid her hand over Alleria’s shoulder to her back to touch the large patch of burn-scarred skin there. “When she tried to burn it from you by force, did he not come then?” 

Alleria could only shake her head. 

Liadrin hadn’t ever experienced such anger. Such unbridled hatred as she did in that moment. “Pack a bag. Quickly. There won’t be clothing to fit you in Kul Tiras. I’ll help Jaina figure out how to scry you. We’ll be situated by the time you’re done.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“When you need us...send for us.” Daelin’s voice was gentle as he lifted a hand and touched his daughter’s cheek lightly. Katherine was already walking through the portal with one sleeping grandchild on either hip. Jaina simply nodded and took her father’s hand in her own to place a kiss against his palm. “Just keep my family safe, Father. Please.”

Daelin smiled warmly at her in a way that made the dark blue of his eyes dance even in the dim grey light of dawn. “I will keep _our_ family safe for as long as I have left to live, Jaina. That includes the High Elf.” 

It was strange to see Jaina throw her arms around him. Strange to everyone in the room but Sylvanas. Who, despite how she ached to see her children go, couldn’t help but smile softly as she strapped old, familiar armor onto her legs. 

As their embrace ended Sylvanas stood as the man approached her. But before he could even get a word out she reached out and gripped his forearm as he gripped hers in turn. “My last breath for your daughter, Lord Admiral. Gladly.” 

Jaina watched the exchange and couldn’t help but feel hopeful that this might turn out for them. Once Daelin and the portal were both gone she moved across the room to Sylvanas and began helping her with her armor. “None of that, now. No more last breaths. Understood?” She asked as she gave one of the straps she was working on a firm tug before buckling it. “Our last breaths will be long, long from now. Surrounded by grandchildren. By great-grandchildren. 

“That’s the plan.” Sylvanas responded before tilting Jaina’s chin up to kiss her firmly. 

She looked over at Vereesa as she walked up with her bow and quiver and handed them to her. 

The smile on her face might have seemed strange if Jaina weren’t wearing one of her own. 

It was a soft, knowing expression shared between the two of them in the hustle and bustle of preparations both in their home and in the courtyard outside as the Rangers prepared themselves. 

“Ten years was a good run, hm?” She asked as she slung her quiver over her shoulder and bowed her head towards her wife. 

“Make sure you get both.” She said quietly as Jaina reached to slip the first of her ears through the slits in her hood. “Lest we go to battle with you mad at me.” 

The gentle flick to the newly exposed ear made her smirk. “Now isn’t the time for you to be an ass.” Jaina chided as she went for the other one, anyway and slid the backs of her fingers along the length of it once it was out. 

Sylvanas shivered and stood straight, again. “It’s always the time for me to be an ass. But it certainly _isn’t_ the time for you to be doing that.” 

They both looked at each other for a moment and while their expressions grew more somber there was still an overwhelming feeling of love between them. Love and the knowledge that they would be together - that they would keep one another safe.

They certainly had enough practice at it by now.

"War Of Hearts"

Come to me  
In the night hours  
I will wait for you  
And I can’t sleep  
Cause thoughts devour  
Thoughts of you consume

I can't help but love you  
Even though I try not to  
I can't help but want you  
I know that I'd die without you

Stay with me a little longer  
I will wait for you  
Shadows creep  
And want grows stronger  
Deeper than the truth

I can't help but love you  
Even though I try not to  
I can't help but want you  
I know that I'd die without you

I can’t help but be wrong in the dark  
Cause I’m overcome in this war of hearts  
I can’t help but want oceans to part  
Cause I’m overcome in this war of hearts


	10. The Devil Within

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

“It’s been a while, Sylvanas.” Jaina murmured as she helped her out of her armor in the dim magelight she was using to illuminate their tent. “How are you holding up?” She lowered the knee plate in her hands to the ground beneath them and knelt to start helping her out of her boots.

“Leave them. I’m fine.” She whispered in response as Jaina ran a hand up her leg to her knee just above the edge of the leather that covered her from there down. The mage frowned softly as she felt along it to find it slightly tender to the touch, despite how Sylvanas tried to remain still. 

“How fine is fine, my darling?” She asked, standing up to pull her close - resting their foreheads together and finding comfort in the arms that wrapped around her in turn. 

“Absolutely fine. You needn’t worry over me, Jaina. There is worse to come than a hard day’s riding. Liadrin will be around soon to check on Alleria. You should get washed up. I’ll go see about supper while you do.” 

With so many rangers in camp food wasn’t really a concern. They had hunted as they rode and the stew on the fire in the center of their gathering of tents was ample enough for them and then some. She paused in her journey as she felt someone approach and her attention turned to her younger sister. “Ranger-General.” She greeted evenly - as she always did. The last thing they needed was for their troops to defer to her right now. She needed to remain at least somewhat unimportant. That’s why she was dressed the way she was. In the blue and silver armor accompanied by brown leathers of the Farstriders that she hadn’t worn in what felt like a lifetime. 

“Sister.” The greeting was returned with warmth as Vereesa grasped her shoulder armor for a moment. “I have news.”

“Oh? And what might that be?” Sylvanas asked as she was led towards the edge of camp away from listening ears. It wasn’t so much the Rangers their concerns were with but the Silvermoon mages that had accompanied their unit. They were rather excitable...and had rather loose lips. 

“I can feel her. Can you not?” Vereesa’s brow furrowed slightly as she looked over Sylvanas’s shoulder into the darkness of the forest behind her. 

“Feel what?” Sylvanas asked as she threw a glance in the direction Vereesa was already looking. And it dawned on her. All at once with an almost audible, physical rush that took her breath away. 

“He has her. And he’s close.” 

“He has...he could not possibly. She would never stand for it. To be held by the likes of him.” Sylvanas’s indignance was audible in her tone and she watched as Vereesa’s eyes glinted mischievously. 

“Do you think he is having an easy time of it, then? I have never felt that bow so strongly. None of us has, I don’t think. I’m quite certain she knows that. And I’m just as certain that’s why we’ve been heading in the right direction all day.”

But instead of looking relieved or excited Sylvanas just looked...so angry. And Vereesa didn’t know how to take it. 

She’d never seen her sister like this. It was like she couldn’t take her eyes off the forest for the life of her. And there was something so...so alien in them. “Sylvanas...we’ll find him. There is no one better suited to do so than us.”

Sylvanas didn’t really hear her words. The rushing in her ears was deafening. The anger flooding through her was terrifying to feel and that only made it worse. “I grow tired of entitled children meddling with my family.” She muttered lowly, her ears pressing back so gradually only someone as familiar with her as Vereesa might have noticed it. Or perhaps the mage that had caught a glimpse of them as she let Liadrin into their tent. “I grow tired of them touching what is not theirs. Hurting what is not theirs.”

Vereesa frowned and the worry she was feeling etched itself deeper into her expression as she reached out and took Sylvanas’s wrist in her own and that finally, at the very least, got her attention on her. Just...perhaps not in the way she was anticipating. 

“Tell your night watch to expect me to pass through three hours before dawn. I won’t be mounted.”

“Sylvanas...Jaina…”

“Neither Jaina nor myself has been officially conscripted. We are here to provide aid as we see fit. Let me end this before it becomes more than it already is. This is my offer to you, Ranger-General. A clean victory against a small force. No one need know it will soon be without a leader.” 

“Jaina?” Liadrin’s voice was faintly hesitant as she watched the mage stare down into her scrying stone as if she’d seen a ghost. “Is...Is Alleria alright?” 

Jaina ran her thumb over the polished surface and the faces of her sister-in-law and wife faded from it as she offered her best attempt at a smile. “Just checking in, now.” She responded as she began to cast the spell she had worked tirelessly on to allow her to see Alleria despite the void energy that surrounded her. She had once done similar spell work for Sylvanas...it was strange how easily she’d forgotten. But she was reminded of it all too sharply, now. And she wanted nothing more than to go to her. To stop her from spiraling. But she had to trust it could wait for just a little while longer. 

Her concern for her wife was immediately dulled by the sight of Alleria pressed into the corner nearest smoldering coals of what had once been a fire in the hearth of the room she was staying in. She’d been fine the past two nights. What had changed? What had changed so drastically that she was tucked away so? Like she was hiding. Like she was terrified. Even Jaina had trouble looking after the first moments. And she could easily imagine how Liadrin felt. 

That was largely why she had opened a portal before Liadrin could even think to ask. 

“Thank you. An hour. That’s all I ask.” The Priestess gasped out breathlessly as she stood and rushed forward through it, leaving Jaina alone with her thoughts as she dissipated the scry and slowly forced herself to her feet. 

Gods, she was tired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_No one is here that has any hope of stopping you. End this. Destroy what is most important to them and you will destroy them as well. They rest easy in their beds. It would be simple enough. Painless for them. Or...bring them to us. Bring them to us that we could utilize their potential as no one else ever will._

Her own shuddering groan cut them off as she grasped at her own ears with trembling hands and clenched her jaw even tighter than she already had. “No. No. Never.” She whispered - her voice weak and shaking as it passed her dry lips. 

Liadrin stood in the center of the room silently for a moment, glancing towards the bottle of rum sitting on the floor so close to where Alleria sat. But it was untouched. Blessedly untouched. Miraculously untouched. 

Alleria stopped rocking where she sat when the voices faded. They hadn’t stopped all night. She couldn’t imagine what could’ve done it until she felt hands covering her own, pulling them away from her ears and then drawing her close. 

“Liadrin.” She breathed as the priestess half-fell onto the floor with her and tugged her into her lap against her chest, mindless of her robes or anything else in that moment. 

“I’m right here, Little Bird.” She murmured in response as she kissed the top of her head repeatedly. “I’m so proud of you. I’m so proud, Alleria.”

“I’ve done nothing for you to be proud of.” She murmured against Liadrin’s shoulder, shivering slightly against the chill of the room. She wasn’t used to Kul Tiras. She was used to the warmth and comfort of Quel’thalas...and the warmth of comfort of Liadrin’s arms. 

“You’re so strong.” Liadrin breathed, leaning down to press their lips together softly. “So strong.” 

For just a moment her frantic thoughts stilled and all she knew as that loving praise and the touch of lips against her own. And she found herself desperately and immediately wanting more. More praise. More quieting of her mind. And she poured that need into the kiss that followed. 

Liadrin gasped against Alleria’s mouth as she felt the strength behind every movement while she was guided to lay against the floor. Her head was spinning. Alleria’s hands were all over her - tugging and stroking flesh that had gone untouched for years as she’d dedicated her life so fully to what she now knew would forsake her when she needed it most. And she could feel the darkness against her skin as her robes were parted. Pressing cooly against the edges of her mind as Alleria’s mouth found the front of her throat and she stared up at the ceiling, swallowing thickly after a sharp gasp left her. And...for the first time, she could feel it more deeply. Offering comfort and warmth by way of soft, hungry lips and panted breaths and trembling, calloused hands.

She welcomed it...all of it. But she knew she needed to stop her. Knew this wasn’t happening for the right reasons. Knew it would be better for it to happen when they were home...home, safe, and well. Or...or, gods, at least one of the above. She didn’t know anymore. 

But her eyes fluttered shut and her protests lay unspoken on her parted lips as she felt a tug against her nipple when Alleria’s thumb brushed the barbell running through it. She looked down slowly as wild, golden hair brushed her now bared chest - at the robes that were parted towards the floor...and the tongue that trailed up the underside of her breast before the heat of her mouth surrounded her. And when Alleria found that metal with her teeth and the soft noise of clicking met her ears a shudder wracked her slender body. “Alleria.”

Her voice was a whimper. Reluctance. Need. A confusing muddle of emotions that caused Alleria to stop. “If this is what you want, it’s yours when the time is right. But a moment ago you were hiding from voices in your head telling you god knows what on the floor. And you’re freezing.”

_Take her. She’s yours. She’s perfect. You will be resplendent in one another’s power. Let nothing stand in your way. Show them. Show them all what you are capable of bringing about. She wants this. Do you not feel her pulling at you? Needing what you offer?_

Alleria was tense as she rested her forehead against the center of Liadrin’s chest. But nonetheless, she had stopped. Even in her state, she could recognize Liadrin was right. That the whispers were contradicting themselves. That she wanted them to stay away from her. From her Priestess and from her Light. She deserved better than this...than being pinned to the floor and pawed at like some...But before the guilt could eat into her, Liadrin lifted her hands and stroked slowly over her head and along her ears as she willed herself to be calm, as well. 

“You don’t have to do anything for me to love you, Bird.” She whispered, watching as the stiffness in Alleria’s broad, strong shoulders seemed to evaporate as she settled down against her. “I already do. And nothing will change that. You don’t have to give me anything you aren’t ready to give for me to stay.” 

After they’d both had a moment to collect themselves Liadrin watched as Alleria lifted herself and reached to fix her robes for her with furrowed brows and a pensive look on her face. Liadrin sat up with her and pressed a reassuring kiss to her forehead before they both stood and she rested a hand on the older woman’s hip. “Get something warmer on. I’ll build your fire back up and stay until you’re asleep.” 

As Liadrin began stoking the embers with more of the firewood stacked beside the hearth she could still feel it. A mixture of purely physical ache and the shadows that lingered on her skin in Alleria’s absence. She leaned forward for a moment with one hand on the mantle as she had to shut her eyes against the feeling. 

“Liadrin?” Alleria’s voice drew her attention immediately and she sighed quietly as at least some of the sensations battling within her subsided in response. She was pleased and relieved to see her in something more suitable for the temperature - waiting for her near the bed. And as she joined her and pulled her beneath the covers with herself their touches were more gentle. Without purpose other than the comfort they brought. Alleria fell asleep to the feeling of the younger woman tracing the lines of her tattoos with her fingertips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaina looked up at Sylvanas now and again as they shared their meal in silence. If that’s what you could have called it. Her wife hadn’t touched her meal other than to move the bits of venison in the stew around now and then or to pick an edge of the pack-bread that was resting on her knee.

“Jaina…” She trailed off as she finally gave up and sat the dish aside. “Something happened earlier.” 

The mage smiled almost sadly and moved her own food out of her lap to shift on her knees until she was sitting in front of her beloved. She took her hand in her own and ran her thumb over the wedding band she wore, shifting it to reveal the line of pale skin beneath it. “Tell me.” She whispered as she tangled their fingers together, easing some of her lover’s apprehension. 

“I...I was going to leave tonight. I was going to find him. He has the bow, Jaina. Alleria’s bow. Our _mother’s_ bow. It belongs to our family. I just...I got so angry. I can’t take this. I can’t take another moment of it. And I promised you. I promised you I wouldn’t do this anymore.” 

“Shh...Sylvanas….” Jaina reached up and stroked over her head atop the hood of her cloak before pulling it away from her hair, carefully slipping her ears out of it and resting it against her back so she could see her. “You’ve broken no promises. You’re still right here. And your family is safe. Your family is right here. In this camp. Or across the world safe from harm. That bow is not your family. Don’t view it as such. Now, tell me. Do you think you could face him alone? With however many followers he has with him?”

Sylvanas frowned as she looked down at Jaina’s hand grasping her own. She hadn’t even asked herself that, much less thought of what the answer would be if it was asked of her. They both knew all too well what had happened the last time she faced a zealot alone when she’d been alive the first time. But that had been when she’d believed in honor...perhaps this time…

“Do you not think we would stand a better chance if we went together?”

Her glowing eyes lifted in the dim tent-light between them and met Jaina’s - took in the look of resolve on her face. And she second-guessed everything. 

“I wouldn’t put you in harm’s way like that, Jaina. You know that. You’re a...”

Jaina’s expression softened and a knowing look came over her tired features. “A mother. A wife. A woman who loves her family. Who would give my last breath for them. Just like you, Sylvanas. However, there is no need to run blindly towards that fate.” She reached up and tugged on one of her lover’s ears gently as her gaze fell again - causing it to lift once more to her own. “But if it comes to that - I need it to come to that with you at my side. That I may be at peace. That my last thoughts will be of the beauty and grace you have brought into my life.” 

“Jaina…” Sylvanas could feel the ache in the back of her throat as she tried and failed to think of something to say in response to that. It wasn’t often Jaina left her speechless. In fact she was so used to it being the other way around she felt rather helpless right then. 

“Did you like that?” Jaina asked with a faint smirk that softened as she pressed a kiss to the corner of Sylvanas’s lips. “Perhaps my vain, poetic, one-woman army of an elf is rubbing off on me. Let’s get some rest. We still have children to chase after once all is said and done.”

"The Devil Within"  
Digital Daggers

I'll keep quiet  
You won't even know I'm here  
You won't suspect a thing  
You won't see me in the mirror  
But I crept into your heart  
You can't make me disappear  
'Til I make you

I made myself at home  
In the cobwebs and the lies  
I'm learning all your tricks  
I can hurt you from inside  
I made myself a promise  
You would never see me cry  
'Til I make you

You'll never know what hit you  
Won't see me closing in  
I'm gonna make you suffer  
This hell you put me in  
I'm underneath your skin  
The devil within  
You'll never know what hit you

I'll be here  
When you think you're all alone  
Seeping through the cracks  
I'm the poison in your bones  
My love is your disease  
I won't let it set you free  
'Til I break you

You'll never know what hit you  
Won't see me closing in  
I'm gonna make you suffer  
This hell you put me in  
I'm underneath your skin  
The devil within  
You'll never know what hit you

I tried to be the lover to your nightmare  
Look what you made of me  
Now I'm the heavy burden that you can't bear  
Look what you made of me  
Look what you made of me  
I'll make you see

You'll never know what hit you  
Won't see me closing in  
I'm gonna make you suffer  
This hell you put me in  
I'm underneath your skin  
The devil within  
You'll never know what hit you


	11. Between The Wars

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

**  
**  
_We can show you, Liadrin. We can show you the truth. You need only open your eyes. You need only let us in._  


Even as Liadrin began to stir, Alleria didn’t wake. She hadn’t slept in two days and with the Priestess beside her - her body had finally given out. 

**_The Light will fail you. It will abandon you when you need it most. It will destroy you...as it destroyed her._ **

Jaina panted quietly as she threaded her fingers into her wife’s hair. “I’m close.” She whispered breathlessly into the darkness of their tent, pressing her knee harder between her wife’s legs as Sylvanas redoubled her efforts and bit down on the shoulder her lips hovered over to keep herself quiet.

**_Already, it balks under your control. You’ve no idea the ruthlessness you face. The zealotry._ **

**_Then show me._ **

Sylvanas lifted her hips as she felt Jaina’s hand slide up the inside of her thigh as the other released her hair to grip her arm. And for a few moments, they were nothing but hushed, frantic whispers and gasps as they drew one another quickly towards an end they both needed. 

**_So be it._ **

“Do what you must.” 

Alleria's voice was firm. Resolute. And Liadrin watched helplessly as she was marched over the floor plates of the ship while Turalyon sat, her wrists held behind her back and her face forced into a false expression of acceptance and resolve. And as much as she wanted to scream at him to get up - to stop this madness - she couldn’t speak. And the voices of her lover’s captors were muted and muffled. It was like she was seeing and hearing everything through a wall of shadow.

She was able to move, at least. To find the cell Alleria had existed in for so much longer than she could have ever guessed. But time itself seemed to shift and warp around her. Moments stretched into years. Into decades. A century. ...And longer, even, than that. Isolation. Pain. _Unbearable_ pain in her beloved’s voice. And no one to answer her. 

**_You see...we were all she had. Were it not for us she would not have survived. Would you but help her bear this burden...no one will ever hurt her again. You will be far too powerful. And you will never be forsaken._ **

Sylvanas came to rest against Jaina as she felt her fingertips digging into her back and their bodies slowly went still against each other. With trembling hands, she reached between them and pulled her own pants back up before re-lacing Jaina’s breaches beneath the thin, military-issue sheet that covered them. It hadn’t been much. But it had been enough. Sylvanas felt less tension in her body and in Jaina’s as she curled against her, twining their limbs together and pulling her onto her side to face her when she moved to lay beside her. “Dalah’surfal…” She breathed against Jaina’s lips before kissing them as she reached for her hand, pulling it up beside their heads slowly and twining their fingers together.

“Mmm?” 

“Don’t stray from me tomorrow.”

“I haven’t strayed from you since I was twenty years old, my heart. The middle of a battle would be a most inopportune time to start.” Despite their worry, they both smiled softly at one another. 

“You should fetch Liadrin. It’s getting late.”

“Mm. I’ll let them have a while longer, yet. I’m keeping an eye on them. They’re fine.” 

Sylvanas glanced over her at the scrying stone Jaina had set on the little stool in the corner of the tent and her eyes narrowed slowly as she lifted herself up - her lips parted and her ears shifting nervously as she watched what could only be described as darkness swirling across its polished surface. “Jaina…” 

_**And you would help me destroy him for what he’s done to her?** _

_**Priestess...you will not need help.** _

_**Then do what you must to make it so.** _

Liadrin’s back arched from the bed as her eyes snapped open. But there was no pain. She’d expected there to be a great deal of it. Instead...she could feel the holes her shaken faith had riddled into her mind and her heart become full. She could feel her exhausted energy renewed with each gentle whisper that caressed her ears as shadow danced within her eyes. And easily - more easily than the void could ever have anticipated - she shut it all down. Buried it within herself. A tool to be used just as the light that was gone from her had been. 

“Liadrin?” Alleria’s voice held a tremor that drew her attention immediately and she turned to look at her as her eyes cleared and glowed their gentle blue once again. 

Alleria felt lighter. More whole. And the darkness that was forever pushing at the edges of her mind seemed unable to find purchase suddenly. Thoughts that were almost always frantic seemed suddenly calm. 

“No…” She whimpered, reaching for her Priestess but finding herself gathered in her arms instead, held tightly against her chest. 

“I need you to trust me. Remember when you said you’d try, Little Bird?” She asked in a breathless whisper against her hair as she stroked through it and down along her back. “I need you to do that now. Please. I need you to try.” 

And even as a fury unlike anything she’d ever known burned within her - she felt no edge of danger. No, she was more prepared for this than she could have known. Centuries of wielding the Light had taught her well. 

“Promise me you’re okay, Liadrin. Promise me.” A thousand thoughts raced through her mind. Thoughts that, for once, were allowed to mature. To become solid, real things for her. Liadrin loved her. She didn’t want her to change. She would never force her to. Never again would she feel dirty in her presence. How could she? She would have to feel the same way about her. And she could never. How could there possibly remain a shadow of a doubt in her mind as to whether this was real? She could _feel_ how real it was. How utterly...un-alone she was.

She pulled back and lifted Alleria’s face in her hands, stroking along the tattoo adorning her cheek with her thumb as she looked into her eyes. “I am more than okay. And I would never lie to you.” 

But before she could respond both Jaina and Sylvanas stumbled through a hastily summoned portal into the center of the room - Jaina’s eyes ablaze with arcane energy and her staff raised from the floor and Sylvanas’s bow drawn to its fullest with steady hands as she found her footing. 

They had never looked so simultaneously confused and ready. It would have been almost comical - had the situation not been so serious. 

Liadrin stood slowly, one hand lingering against Alleria’s skin as she turned to face them before she took a step forward. “Do you know where he is?” 

They both lowered their weapons slowly. 

Sylvanas looked at her searchingly and then towards her sister who had slipped off the bed and moved behind the Priestess, pressing a kiss to the back of her shoulder, though Liadrin didn’t turn towards her. 

“Yes.” Sylvanas responded simply. 

“Take me to him.” 

Jaina moved to Sylvanas and stroked down her arm soothingly before she began summoning a portal back to their camp.

“Perhaps you should warn someone next time you decide to switch vocations, Liadrin.” Jaina’s tone was dry as her heart still raced in her chest out of worry for both her children and for them in turn. Even from across the room she could sense the priestess’s power. But there was no threat behind it. No deep, primal sense of foreboding. 

“I’m not staying here.” Alleria’s voice was clear and steady as she moved to stand at Liadrin’s side. The only person not surprised by the sudden show of strength was Liadrin. “I won’t be sequestered like some prisoner while my family’s blood spills across my homeland. I am still a Captain of the Farstriders. I was never decomissioned. I owe my people the service I didn’t give them. And I’m the one that brought him here.” 

Liadrin’s eyes fell upon her as did all others in the room. 

“No more running.” She breathed, her brows furrowed and her cheeks flushed with emotion. “No more hiding. Please, I...I need this, my sister. Jaina.”

There was little Sylvanas could do to stop the sense of pride swelling within her. Nor the other emotions pummeling her from seemingly every direction. How long had Jaina battled her own darkness? How long had she existed within it?

“You realize you’ll have to take that up with your General, yes? And...Liadrin?” Sylvanas finally responded. 

Concern flashed across Alleria’s features as she looked towards the Priestess. 

“The last thing she needs is to be kept here, Sylvanas. Nothing will touch her. Of that I’m certain. And as far as Vereesa’s concerns go...I can attest to her being plenty physically fit to return to duty.” 

Sylvanas narrowed her eyes a bit as she slung her bow behind her back to hook it over her quiver. “Liadrin...please. She’s my sister.” 

Liadrin took Alleria’s hand in her own and pulled her gently towards the portal. “Sylvanas get your mind out of the gutter. I was her doctor if you’ll recall.”

Jaina watched them step through it and turned a rather worn looking gaze in her wife’s direction. “I just want you to know I occasionally find elves and your terrible sense of humor very tiring.” 

Sylvanas sighed heavily and glanced at the portal before she felt a hand on the side of her face and looked back into Jaina’s eyes. “I love every moment of it.” The Mage smirked and brushed her thumb across the small smile that caused in turn then stepped through with her to the other side. 

The tent was terribly crowded by the time they had all piled into it and Jaina finally dismissed the spell that had brought them there while Sylvanas got to work spreading the sheets out flat across the ground of it and reached for her pack to tug a spare cloak from it for Alleria and Liadrin to use as a pillow. 

“I thought you wanted me to speak to Vereesa about this, Sylvanas.” Alleria’s voice was apprehensive as she huddled beneath the canvas fabric out of the way of what she was doing. She didn’t know how much she appreciated the derisive snort she got in response. 

“You can’t have forgotten how cranky she is when you wake her up.” Sylvanas responded almost immediately. “I don’t know about the two of you - but I’ve had a much less active night and I _still_ need enough sleep to handle that conversation.”

“Less active, then?” Jaina asked incredulously as she knelt down on what was to be their side. “Was I with another woman in here an hour ago? I could’ve sworn after so many years I might have been able to tell the difference.” 

Sylvanas huffed in a rather dramatically exhausted manner as she plopped down in turn and tugged Jaina down into her lap too suddenly for her to do anything about it. “Tired of _our_ humor, hm?” She asked as she looked up at her before rolling her over onto the sheets rather unceremoniously only to find herself yanked down onto her back in return. 

“By the gods is this what we have to look forward to?” Alleria muttered under her breath as she moved to get situated next to her sister - pleased with the amount of space she’d been able to make for the four of them. But then she’d always been good at things like this. 

Once they all found a position comfortable enough to sleep in Jaina extinguished the magelight she’d summoned and pressed close to Sylvanas, stroking along her stomach over the sheets as her head came to rest on her shoulder when she felt her lover’s arm wrap around her to keep her close. 

They couldn’t help but watch as Alleria and Liadrin turned to face one another almost immediately. Liadrin’s barely audible “I hope so, Little Bird. More than anything.” caused the back of her throat to ache suddenly and she tried to swallow against it. She wished, suddenly, that she was alone with Jaina. That she could talk to her. Thank her for this. For what she’d done for her...for her family. For _their_ family. No matter what happened the next day. This was the happiest...the most content any of them had ever been. And considering the circumstances that was saying a lot. 

But the soft press of lips against her cheek and the tug at her shoulder followed by the comfort of Jaina pressing herself close and slipping an arm around the small of her back told her she didn’t need to. She settled for clutching Jaina closer, pulling her cloak around her and holding the back of her head firmly as Jaina pressed her face against her neck beneath her chin. “I love you so much, Sylvanas.” 

The older woman nodded as her eyes fell shut and she felt the cool air hitting the tear that slipped down the side of her face as a result. “I love you, too, Jaina. With all of me.” 

Alleria looked over Liadrin’s shoulder at them as she moved closer to the Priestess and then met her gaze again as she seemed content to stroke along her arm. “Me, too.” She whispered in response to her earlier statement regarding the other two women. 

Liadrin smiled in her half-sleeping state and rested her cheek on the arm that was stretched beneath her head. “We’ll do our best, Little Bird. I know we will.”

  


"Between The Wars"  
Allman Brown 

Between the wars we dance  
Between the wars we left  
Don't wake me yet  
Don't wake me yet

Between the wars we'll stay  
Fading echoes spin away  
Lost in memories, in memories

And still the rest  
Hasn't happened, hasn't happened yet

Don't wake me  
Don't take me yet  
Don't wake me  
Don't take me yet

Between the wars we'll stay  
Fading echoes spin away  
Lost in memories, in memories


	12. Lover. Fighter.

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

“They’re empty?” Turalyon’s voice was more than just agitated. He was...furious. And as he pushed himself from the bed he’d been resting in and made his way towards the window over the table he’d been mapping their attacks at the Draenie scout that had reported to him took a step back.

“They...they cloaked it somehow, High Exarch. We aren’t sure how.” She responded - her voice a little quieter now. 

“If they cloaked it...why have they removed the spell now?” He asked in a low tone as his attention shifted back to her. 

“I suspect because they no longer care if we know.” 

Turalyon picked up his sword and adjusted his grip on it before he sheathed it and reached for the bow that was laying across the table. It clattered to the floor and he let out a sharp hiss as he looked down at the burn marks that had been seared into his palm the moment he’d touched it. He didn’t stop to wonder what that might mean - he was just frustrated. Furious. “I am so sick of this wretched thing!” As he advanced on Thas’dorah the kick he delivered to her might have shattered any lesser weapon of its kind. But before it even made contact with the far wall it was launched towards both he and the scout went still and turned in slow, apprehensive unison to the sounds coming from behind the cabin. 

Little cracks. Little pops. Small, innocuous sounds. 

“What...what is that?” The scout’s hooves slipped across the floor quietly as she backed towards the door and Turalyon’s brow furrowed in concentration. 

The last ‘pop’ was more of an explosion than anything else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sylvanas and Alleria sat up almost as one - both their eyes glued to the flap of the tent for only a moment before they scrambled towards it.

Alleria clutched at her chest as their eyes scanned the forest and then they both saw Vereesa standing at the edge of it - stock still with her ears shifted slightly forward in the pre-dawn light that had settled over the clearing they’d made camp in. 

Everyone else still slept. The three of them had moved so quickly and so silently in response to the cry they’d all felt in the very depths of their beings Liadrin and Jaina only just began to stir. And when they both found their lovers gone that locked eyes and then rushed out into the open, themselves. 

Jaina knew better than to speak. She could tell, after so many years, when Sylvanas needed silence. When she needed to listen. So she simply stood at her side with her staff in hand - Sylvanas’s bow and quiver hanging from the other as a strangle cool breeze whipped through the clearing. 

Sylvanas turned her head towards it - the smell of splintering wood causing her eyes to shut for a moment before she reached for the bow she already knew Jaina held. She had her quiver strapped over her chest and her weapon strung with practiced ease even as both Alleria and, in the distance, Vereesa, still seemed locked in place. 

Some of Jaina’s unspoken questions were answered soon enough as the explosion of strong timber could be heard even as far away as they were. Trees didn’t just fall in the forests of Quel’thalas for no reason. Bows didn’t just cry out to their families for no reason, either.

That became clear enough when Vereesa turned and her voice boomed across the sleepy clearing. 

“Rangers! Fall in! We ride at dawn!” 

By the time she had made it to the camp from the treeline she’d been standing near, there was noise from every tent. Every sensitive ear that had been on high alert for days now had heard that order. And everyone was more than ready to follow it. 

But her focus was on Alleria and her unexpected presence. She approached the gathering of women wearily and Liadrin instinctively rested a hand against her lover’s lower back through her cloak. 

As she came to a stop in front of her instead of offering an explanation or readying an argument Alleria saluted, drawing her clenched fist across her chest. Liadrin stepped back a bit in response despite how she bristled inwardly - fearful Vereesa would try to send her away, or worse - have her apprehended for disobedience. She knew it would be out of love. Out of concern. All she knew was she wouldn’t let it happen. 

“Ranger-General. Your orders?” Alleria’s voice was more calm and steady than any of them had heard it in years. As though something had suddenly clicked inside her. Be it the bow’s cry for help or once again hearing one of her sisters shout orders to the women that had always followed them. 

Vereesa seemed unsure for a moment before the mask of authority - the weight of her position fell back over her. “My orders were clear, Captain. We ride at dawn.” Her gaze fell on each one of them in turn before they were back on her oldest sister. “All of us. You might want to find a weapon until we can get yours back. I need you at range with these three.”  
“I hadn’t planned on fighting with my bare hands, no.” Alleria responded with a faint smirk. Sylvanas lifted a brow at her sudden display of boldness. But she couldn’t help the smile that played on her lips, either. 

“I had to be sure. I’ve heard stories to the contrary.” Vereesa responded dryly before reaching out to grip her upper arm gently in her gloved hand. “It’s good to have you back, Alleria. Fight well.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Turalyon groaned as he looked up and tried to see through the wood dust and debris still settling around the wreckage the tree fall had made of the building that now lay in ruins around him. He didn’t pay much mind to the broken body of the lifeless woman pinned beneath it aside from a rushed prayer over her corpse. No - his focus was on finding what had caused this to happen. What had surely given their position away as he heard the soldiers outside scrambling to salvage what weapons and gear they could.

But try as he might he couldn’t. He had no way of knowing Thas’dorah was currently nestled safely within a cushion of vines that it had woven about itself, obscured from view against the forest giant that had nearly killed him. 

“Turalyon. We need to move.” 

Lothraxion’s voice was subdued as he hovered near the entrance of the building. 

“I have to find that damned bow. We aren’t going anywhere until we do.” 

The Light-infused Nethrazim’s wings pressed closer to his own back as a rumble rose within his throat before he silenced it. His thoughts had never been so black and white as the Exarch’s. How could they be? Perhaps that was part of the reason why he knew exactly where it was. Perhaps that was part of the reason he didn’t allow his eyes to trail to where he felt the weapon’s energies coming from. It was certainly the reason he had tried and failed to draw Turalyon’s attention away from his quest more than once - always far from Xera. Away from her looming presence. 

He had never been able to shake the guilt he felt for his hand in assisting Alleria with the void. Not because he found it inherently wrong - but because of this. What was happening now. Because of the Elven blood their efforts had already spilled in a place where he felt more Light, almost, than he did in Xera’s presence. And because of the endless years of torment he hadn’t had the strength to attempt to put a stop to. 

“It will not be found if it does not want to be found, Turalyon. We fight in lands we are unfamiliar with against a people that have no dog in our fight. Can you not feel that this place is sacred? There are no demons here. What are you asking us to become?”

Turalyon’s expression darkened as he approached his second in command, staring up at him for a moment before he shoved his way past him and out of the cabin. “Perhaps you should return to the ship and voice your misgivings to Xera.” He hissed as he passed. 

Lothraxion watched him go and listened as he began shouting orders to move out - knowing he would be pulling them back to where the rest of their forces lay in waiting now that it seemed so inevitable they would be found before they were ready. As the voices and sounds got further away he made his way across the room to the bundle of vines he’d already spotted and reached down, pulling them aside carefully to find the bow unharmed. He wondered, briefly, if things might have been different if she’d had it when she’d been imprisoned. If perhaps the light that dwelled within the delicate, unbreakable curves of its construction might have changed how Xera felt about Alleria. 

His mood darkened further when he came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t have and he tugged the bow from its hiding place. He would never forget Alleria’s strange connection to that bow. Nor would he forget that she had saved his life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Quel’thalas steeds that bore them wove themselves easily through the familiar patterns of the trees that would have presented a problem for any other mounted army. Sylvanas rode slightly ahead and out of formation - her sharp eyes focused on the ground - flicking back and forth across it constantly before any possible tracks could be obliterated by their forward progress. She was stiff in her saddle yet somehow still rode with ease. And of course, Jaina watched her from her place beside Alleria. In all their years together this was her first time really seeing her act in this capacity. As...a Ranger. A tracker. One of the best of all their people. She’d always known that. She’d just never seen it.

“You look at her a lot.” Jaina was almost startled by Alleria’s voice - quiet as it was from beside her. She shifted in her saddle and looked over at her as they rode. 

“I’m aware.” She responded - a hint of amusement in her tone. “Does it bother you? You’ll get used to it.” 

“Used to it?” Alleria responded - chuckling under her breath as Liadrin just shook her head from beside her. “People have been staring at her since she was old enough to be something to look at. I’m used to it. Trust me. And I certainly don’t mind. I couldn’t handle all that attention. She used to notice it, you know. The way people looked at her before you came along. She’d hold her head a little higher. Find a good spot of light to stand in. She still does that. But only when it's you.” 

Jaina looked down at the reigns in her hands for a time as she adjusted her grip on her staff to hold it across her saddle. And she wondered, suddenly, if how taken she’d been with Sylvanas in that Inn in Dalaran all those years ago really had been as much happenstance as it had seemed - or if Sylvanas knew she was looking at her. But when she looked back up at her from their place in the loose formation she released a soft, short breath as she smiled. It wouldn’t have mattered. 

Their mood sobered as they got closer to their destination. Alleria was visibly tense and Jaina watched Liadrin reach for her every now and then out of the corner of her eye. But her attention was drawn away as Vereesa lifted a hand and the entire unit stopped almost immediately. She hadn’t even seen whatever signal her wife must have given her but she watched with her breath held in her chest as Sylvanas slipped from her saddle and landed in the padding of leaves without a sound. Her cloak brushed across the ground as she moved forward a few paces and knelt down, reaching and tracing the outlines of whatever print she’d found. 

Even Jaina heard the crack of a twig not too far off and she watched worriedly as Sylvanas stood - so far from the rest of them. Her eyes fell to the gloved hand she held out by her side - at the single finger she extended before reaching to pull an arrow from her quiver. The sound of wood creaking around her as every ranger drew their bow was accompanied by the gentle hum of her staff as she lifted one of her hands in her lover’s direction, more than ready to protect her from whatever harm might befall her. 

Until the strangest creature stepped into the clearing. Strange, at least, to everyone but Alleria. But what he held...what he held gave everyone pause. 

Vereesa dismounted and approached him slowly, coming to stand beside Sylvanas as his eyes shifted from them to Alleria. 

“You trespass on High Elven lands and you hold something you should not be holding. Find an explanation before my arrow finds your throat.” 

He seemed unworried. And he wasn’t. He knew he could never return to his Army...or at the very least that he could never return to the Xenadar. A quick, easy end wouldn’t be all that awful. But he spoke, anyway. And his attention never wavered from who he had come looking for. “Alleria Windrunner. I owe you a debt. I do not come seeking mercy or safe harbor. Your people may do what they will with me when this is done. Or they may do it right now if they so choose. But this belongs to you. And I fear you may soon need it.”

He held out the bow without moving and Vereesa’s gaze searched for Alleria as she dismounted and approached. “Lothraxion.” She greeted quietly, looking up at him as he towered before her - his expression strangely subdued. “You did not need to do this.” 

“But I did.” He responded simply as he handed her the bow. 

Jaina’s brow furrowed as she physically _felt_ the changing of hands. The shifting of the natural magics around them. Leaves swirled about the legs of their mounts as the trees swayed faintly in a breeze that seemed to come from nowhere. They were far too deep in the forest for such a wind to penetrate so easily…

Even as Vereesa ordered Lothraxion Alleria still stood, staring at the weapon that had been such a part of her life for so long. She felt a sudden sense of peace wash over her. The Rangers parted for the creature’s passing - lowering their bows before he moved between them. No matter what he was - or where he had come from - it would have been difficult for any of them to view his actions as anything less than noble. 

When Vereesa moved away from them Sylvanas turned to face her sister fully, reaching for the other bow she held to relieve her of it. “It always looked good on you, sister. It still does.” 

Alleria was breathless as she seemed drawn out of her trance by those words. 

“Now how about you let me see you use it? I never did before. It will be an honor.” 

By nightfall, they had found the destruction brought about by Turalyon’s folly and Vereesa ordered them to make camp. Normally - Sylvanas might have argued that decision. But not with the knowledge that there were Broken out there close enough to descend upon them rather easily if they kept moving. 

Both Liadrin and Alleria were glad to be alone with one another again - even if their accommodations were somewhat lacking. And Liadrin watched as Alleria tended to her bow with a small bundle of conditioning gear Sylvanas had managed to find for her before her and Jaina turned in. 

There was something mesmerizing about the way she touched it - the way her hands worked the cloth soaked in wood oil over the long-neglected frame of it. The string had long since been discarded - laying near the entrance of their tent - and a new one was coiled on Alleria’s knee. She was so meticulous. Even the smallest bit of tarnish on the gilded limbs of it received all of her lover’s focus. 

“The stories are true then.” Liadrin murmured as she watched Alleria begin to sharpen the bladed upper edges of it deftly. She looked up at the Priestess, continuing without even having to look despite the danger that might have been present for anyone less familiar with it than she was.  
“What stories?” Alleria asked softly, turning it over in her lap to work on the other edge. 

“You don’t fight like them.” Liadrin continued, shifting across the tent so their knees were almost touching before she brushed her fingertips along the surface of the weapon. She could feel the power coursing through it so strongly it surprised even her. “That you’re ruthless. That an entire race of people feared the very sight of you with that bow.”

Alleria looked down at Liadrin’s hand on Thas’dorah and ran her fingertips over it before she moved it from her lap to set it aside. She leaned back on one hand and took the priestess’s in her own, stroking slowly over her knuckles. “Does that bother you?” She asked softly, confirming without having to that the stories were all too true. 

Liadrin smiled faintly and lifted Alleria’s hand to her lips to press a kiss against the top of it. “We would all do what we had to do to protect our families. Do you truly think I would find it unattractive that you’re a fearsome warrior, Alleria Windrunner?” 

“No, I don’t.” She responded rather warmly. “But I’m glad you’ve enjoyed watching me tend to my bow for the past hour.”

“Ah, so you noticed.” Liadrin didn’t seem the least bit concerned and Alleria laughed. A soft, breathy sound that Liadrin hoped she would hear much more of. “Forgive me, Little Bird. It’s just so breathtaking to see you this way.” 

“Is it?” Alleria responded as she lifted a hand and curled it against Liadrin’s cheek, running it down along her jaw until it rested against the slender line of her neck. 

“Yes.” Liadrin breathed as the older woman leaned in and claimed her lips in a slow, warm meeting that took her breath away. 

“Then I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.” Alleria’s words ghosted over her lips before she kissed the very corner of her mouth and then pulled her down onto the floor of the tent, holding her against her chest. 

“No...no, don’t ever be sorry. Not for anything, Alleria.” Liadrin murmured, but when she looked up she didn’t find the apprehension or the hurt she expected to find. Just an almost playful glint in her eyes. 

“I might have had you before we wound up on the ground in a tent on the eve of a battle desperately needing rest.” 

Liadrin was visibly stunned as she let her head rest back down against Alleria’s shoulder and felt her rough-palmed hand slide along the back of her neck into her hair, stroking along her scalp gently. “Rather forward of you, Little Bird.” She finally quipped, albeit a bit quietly.  
“Mm, was it? I’d always thought shadow priests liked to live life on the edge.” 

“And here I thought that’s what I was doing.” She lifted herself onto an elbow and looked down into Alleria’s eyes as she felt her hand move to the small of her back and pull her closer. 

“When I get you out of this forest, Liadrin…” 

The Priestess silenced her with a light kiss before she reached for their thin blanket and covered them both. “When you get me out of this forest, no one is going to see us for days, Alleria.” 

Alleria supposed it was her turn to be quiet.

  


"Lover. Fighter."  
SVRCINA

Everybody says there's two kinds of hearts where  
One loves and one goes to war  
Some make peace and others get even  
No solid ground to stand for

Surely, it's not easy or too simplified  
I'm dying while you walk away  
And I wanna put my boots on and march to the front line

I will be your lover, fighter  
Harder, higher  
Lover, fighter  
I wanna fight for lover, fighter  
Under fire  
Lover, fighter

I wanna fight for love, love, love.

Through the narrowing bullet,  
Burn like a bullet  
It was love, it was heat, it was true  
We were caught in the battle,  
And all of it shattered  
But I'm aiming high not to lose you

I know, it's not easy or too simplified,  
I know but you and I are on each other's side  
So take my hand and we'll march to the front lines  
I know, it's not easy or too simplified,  
I know but don't you know that I lay down my life


	13. Until Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Timelines aren't for dreamers_  
>  Make it worth walking the wire  
> 

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

Never had an army moved as silently as this one. Across the forest floor - through the trees - following a trail too perfect to be true that had been left for them in the Army of the Light’s hastily made retreat. Their horses were back at camp and what little noise they made covered any possible sounds coming from the thick canopy above.

That’s where Alleria was. She loved it up there. Even headed towards what awaited them - she loved it. She navigated the thick branches with long-practiced ease even with Thas’dorah hanging from one hand. She could see her sisters easily. And Liadrin with her auburn hair in a sea of blue hoods. 

She was ready for this. She had never been more ready for anything. She was fighting with _her_ people, again. And her bow positively hummed with energy in her hand. Strange - to feel so very free headed face-first into battle. But then Alleria Windrunner had always been just a little strange. A little different. A little wild. And that was finally okay again. 

There was no way Turalyon could have known Jaina and Sylvanas were familiar with the Broken and the things they were capable of. There was no way he could have known - as Sylvanas held a hand out to the side to signal the Farstriders in the trees above them to stop just a moment before Vereesa signaled to those on the forest floor - that his own trap would be his downfall. 

But it was. And as the Broken came into view around them they faltered when archers easily shifted their stance to take their aim. But only for a moment. They knew better than to defy their orders. 

Many of them fell before the clanging of plate armor fell on sensitive Elven ears. They even allowed themselves to be pushed back. Just a short distance. Just enough so that Turalyon’s soldiers were situated below the women that might as well have been shadows in the leaves and branches that were far too high to be of any concern. 

“All good back there?” Sylvanas called out over her shoulder as she loosed another arrow with Jaina at her back - a constant, steady presence. Thrumming with energies that grew more and more powerful the longer they fought. 

“You have no idea.” Her response might have come across as dark to anyone else. But not to her. Never to her. She was proud of her wife. Proud of each spell that downed far too many Lightforged soldiers for them to recover from. 

And still - Alleria waited. Waited for the signal. Waited for Turalyon to come into view. And when he finally did - he was surrounded by his main ground force. His face hardened against something he felt was his responsibility to the Light to do. 

The signal was given.  
And the Army of the Light discovered all too quickly the true nature of the noble High Elves they had so foolishly crossed. 

Thousands of years of culture and splendor - of poetry and magic and eternal fall and endless grace and beauty - descended upon them from above in primal, merciless rage. 

They also discovered their only means of escape cut off almost immediately by impenetrable walls of ice. 

“Beautifully done, Jaina.” Sylvanas complimented as she reached for yet another arrow.

“I try!” 

The mage enjoyed the chuckle that earned her in response as her wife’s focus fell back to her shooting. 

The Broken were nearly decimated but there were enough of them that they still required their attention. And that was fine. Very little Elven blood was being spilled.

No - this time - the sleeping giants of Quel’Thalas would drink the blood of her enemies through the soil it soaked into. 

Alleria’s focus was getting to Turalyon. And Liadrin’s focus was getting to Alleria. The Priestess could see the bloodlust in her lover’s eyes across the clearing even before the bladed edge of her bow met its first Lightforged throat. To witness her in action was a thing of terrible beauty. Her strength matched soldiers twice her size. Her stature allowed her to dodge blades that were far too slow to ever catch her - to remove the limbs that swung them at her cleanly. She never touched her quiver. Her arrows lay within it against her hip unused. She was angry. Gods, Liadrin knew she was angry. But she was channeling it. She was controlling it. 

Liadrin, however, was not. She allowed the void to flood into her and she channeled it ruthlessly - carving a path in her lover’s direction as the Rangers fighting with them took it as a matter of course and the Lightforged looked on in shock as their comrades fell to agonizing ends - gripped by shadow. 

“You see!” Turalyon shouted as he backed further into the center of his remaining troops just as the force Vereesa was leading finished off the Broken and turned to finish the battle still raging in the center of the clearing. “She brings only destruction! Darkness! Already she infects your people!”

He was silenced as the soldier nearest him fell to an arrow and Liadrin’s shadow-filled gaze landed upon him. 

“Our people, High Exarch, are none of your concern.” Liadrin’s voice was hollow and yet it echoed with power. 

There couldn’t have been more than forty of them left. Forty against far, far too many. And they were cut off at the back and surrounded. Yet, still, they fought. And when Turalyon realized the battle was unwinnable his attention shifted to the very object of the obsession that had brought him here. 

He knew he couldn’t reach her. The women who were all now fighting within mere strides of her were too powerful to let that happen. But he refused to be beaten without meting out the Light’s justice. Even if he had to do it himself. Those were his only thoughts as he heaved his blade in Alleria’s direction.

Vereesa was certain she could have them both out of the way in time. Alleria was nocking an arrow with her back to her and in the split second she had to act she pulled her to the ground - her bow falling into the leaves as Sylvanas and Jaina both turned in the direction of what had blurred past their vision. 

Time slowed to a stop for all of them as Alleria turned beneath her little sister when she felt the wet heat of blood begin spreading against her own skin. Even as the battle raged on around them she could hear the rattling in Vereesa’s breathing as they both looked between them to see the very tip of the blade pressing through the leather mid plate of the young Ranger-General’s armor. “No.” Alleria whispered, panic rising in her chest as her heart hammered within it and she rolled her onto her side. Her hands trembled as she knelt over her - too shocked to know what to do. 

“Liadrin!” Sylvanas shouted as she forced herself from the trance-like state she’d found herself in and broke into a run with Jaina at her heels - for once, leaving her behind in her haste though she caught up soon enough. As she ran she cleared their vicinity of enemies. With arrows - with the tips of her bow - never even pausing as she cut down anyone who dared to be in her path. 

“I’m...I’m…” Vereesa’s hands were pressed to her own stomach and there was panic in her eyes as color drained from them. 

“What?” Liadrin’s voice was trembling as she pushed Sylvanas back so she could kneel in front of her. Jaina gripped Sylvanas’s arm tightly as she tried to move right back to where she was and she tugged her close. 

“Look at me, Sylvanas. Help me keep them off us. Let Liadrin help her.” 

“Please. Please...” Vereesa lifted her gaze to the Priestess as she gasped for air - each breath painful and forced as she gestured towards the ever darkening leather covering the front of her body that had done nothing to protect her from Turalyon’s blade. 

All at once Liadrin realized the fear in Vereesa’s eyes wasn’t for herself. She’d seen that type of fear enough to know that much. 

She pressed the darkness roiling within her down. Forced it out of the forefront of her mind almost violently and pressed a hand over the wound. “Keep breathing, Vereesa.” She whispered urgently. “Keep breathing. Look at me.” 

But the healing Light she’d opened herself to never came. Alleria was utterly still and silent on the ground nearby, waiting for Liadrin to do something. She waited - as the glow of Vereesa’s eyes began to dim. As her breaths came more and more quickly and then not at all. 

And the light never came. 

_Take it._ The whispers were strong - forceful as she tried yet again and failed. 

_Take it from him. Now is not the time for weakness._

Turalyon stood in the middle of his failing, dwindling army. Frozen as Liadrin’s eyes went dark and fell on him for a second time. 

And suddenly everything around them shifted. Sounds became muffled. Light escaped air from a room. And shadow engulfed her. Turalyon turned. He tried to run only to find himself tethered where he stood by tendrils of shadow that seared into his flesh through his armor. But only for a moment before he was dragged ruthlessly through the bodies of his fallen comrades. 

“Jaina…” Sylvanas’s voice was a murmur as she pushed her wife back a few paces, looking around the battlefield past the slithering walls that seemed to surround them now. “Jaina, I need you to move that ice wall. I need you to put it between them and us. Now.” 

The mage didn’t hesitate. She simply responded - immediately blocking the rest of the rangers’ view of them. 

Alleria was stunned by Turalyon’s sudden presence. Despite how he writhed against the feeling of shadow - the way it began to burn into him. Tear at everything that made him who he was. 

“You son of a _bitch_.” Alleria stood quickly and turned her bow in her hand - readying the blades along it as she moved towards him only to find Liadrin’s hand raised in front of her. 

“I need him alive, my darling.” Her voice was a strange mixture of hisses and an echoing trace of her own familiar one. 

“What...what do you mean to do!” The Paladin shouted, trying and failing to push the tendrils off of himself only to find they weren’t tangible enough to grip. 

“You are so keen on passing judgement. Well. I have judged you. Through the eyes of my lover...and through your actions on the battlefield this day. And you have been found wanting.” 

“Your..your what? I...I have merely come to retrieve what is mine!” 

The laugh that echoed from Liadrin’s throat left him in stunned, shaking silence. 

“Yours?” She demanded lowly even as the shadow crept further and further up his body - forcing him, eventually, to his knees. “ _Nothing_ is yours. Not anymore.”

“What do you-”

His voice was cut off in a strangled groan as Liadrin lifted a hand and drew from him what the void had made certain was hers to take. Not to keep. No. It would never stand for that. And as Vereesa gasped harshly for breath it became clear who it was meant for. 

The pain was excruciating for the Priestess. Even as she acted as only a brief channel - it tore through her body mercilessly. But still as the moments passed with merciless slowness the sword began to withdraw itself as the healing wounds pushed it out. As the very light and Light were returned to her body...and taken from Turalyon’s. 

His cries were dampened by the barriers that had been created. But no matter how he cried out there would be no salvation. No reprieve. As his very reason for being was pulled from him. 

Until he was nothing. 

A shaking, trembling mass on the ground - madness in his eyes and in his expression that seemed, suddenly, to age. He was so very alone. So very _cold_. Every joint in his body ached as his mortality took back what he had cheated it. As fate took what he had doomed himself to. 

“I beg you...don’t…” His whisper was raspy and weathered with age - his body shrunken within the armor that always covered it. Armor that hid his unwillingness to _see_ within its resplendence. 

And now...he could see nothing but darkness. 

“Xe’ra…” 

Liadrin broke the connection and managed to stay on her feet, though she wavered dangerously. 

“She can’t hear you. You are _nothing_ to her, now.” It was the last sentence Liadrin spoke before the pain and weakness overtook her. But she didn’t have to fall far for Alleria’s arms to find her. She forced herself to tear her gaze away from the man dying on the ground before them and gathered Liadrin against her as the shadows faded from her skin 

“What...what _happened_?” Vereesa demanded from where she pushed herself up from the ground - disoriented and slightly agitated but otherwise fine. 

“Nothing.” Sylvanas muttered quietly. “Alleria...would it suit you to finish him?”

The High Elf looked from her younger sister to the pitiful excuse for a man already slipping from this life and into whatever hell awaited him. And then to her Priestess - terribly weakened but pressing against her in her arms. 

“Let him die as he will. He is not worth the price of a Quel’dorei arrow. Nor the dirtying of a blade.”

“Very well, Captain.” Sylvanas responded evenly as their youngest sister stood on unsteady feet before Sylvanas gripped her arm and brushed her off. 

“Take the High Priestess to camp. Our General has a victory to claim. And it will be easily gotten from here on out.” 

And so they left him to gasp for his last breaths alone. As he had left his wife to cry out for help for endless decades. With nothing. With no one. Jaina dismissed the barriers keeping them apart and the sight of Rangers finishing off the last of the Lightforged was a welcome one. 

“Whatever happened...please don’t tell Rhonin.” Vereesa spoke in Jaina and Sylvanas’s general direction and Sylvanas simply shrugged. 

“There is nothing to tell, Little Moon. The battle is won. It is customary to congratulate your troops and rally them around their victory.” She cut her eyes at the younger woman and winked. 

Turalyon’s frail, broken body was just another amidst countless others that were carted off to be disposed of that day. 

Sylvanas hung back at Jaina’s side to watch as the Rangers clapped her younger sister on the back. As she found the strength to whip them into a frenzy of pride - pride that had been well-earned. Pride that was reflected back to them from their Ranger-General tenfold. 

“I could use a nap.” Jaina murmured as she leaned her shoulder against her wife’s. 

Sylvanas looked down at her and lifted a hand to wipe some of the sweat and grime from her brow. “Perhaps a meal - a bath - a nap - and a vacation.” 

“Mm...now is hardly the time or place for you try to turn me on, Sylvanas.” 

“Turn you on? I-” The furrow in her brow relaxed when she saw the way Jaina was smirking. 

“Making jokes with blood still drying on your boots…” Sylvanas murmured as she turned to face her for a moment. “I couldn’t have asked for a better wife. Let’s get to camp. We’ve earned the right to miss this clean-up.” 

“Quite. And do you plan to carry me? Because Alleria had no problems-”

Her eyes snapped open wide as she found herself swept from her feet much to the warm, audible amusement of a nearby group of rangers. 

“Put me down, Sylvanas. I have never been more serious in my life.” She hissed as she _felt_ the chuckle in her lover’s chest. 

“I shan’t let a Lady soil her clothing traipsing across a battlefield. I will put you down when the ground is clean enough for your lovely, blood-stained boots to tread upon once again.” 

Try as she might Jaina didn’t have it in her to be irritated. And she found her beloved’s smooth, graceful gait and the warmth of her arms to be more than compensation enough even if she were.

“Until Forever”  
Eva Under Fire

One more door  
One more time  
One more shot  
just to get it right  
You've gotta give it more  
Or it's never gonna come true  
More or they're never gonna know you 

Hide behind the music  
Let it set your soul on fire  
Timelines aren't for dreamers  
Make it worth walking the wire

Never give it up  
never give it back  
this is all for you  
keep your heart attached  
tell 'em that we're here until forever  
oh oh oh  
until forever with our hearts attached 

On the line  
Choose your side  
One false move  
And you hit rewind  
You gotta give it more  
Or it's never gonna come true  
More or they're never gonna know you 

Hide behind the music  
Let it set your soul on fire  
Timelines aren't for dreamers  
Make it worth walking the wire

And still I let the light burn on inside  
Light up the night  
Light up the sky  
And still I let the light burn on inside  
Light up the night 

One more door  
One more time  
One more shot  
just to get it right  
You've gotta give it more  
Or it's never gonna come true  
More or they're never gonna know you...

Never give it up  
never give it back  
this is all for you  
keep your heart attached  
tell 'em that we're here until forever  
oh oh oh  
until forever with our hearts attached 


	14. Patterns

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

Over the days following the battle, Liadrin found herself in more than capable hands. Where she was weak - Alleria was strong. Where she needed rest - Alleria’s arms were around her to soothe her to sleep. And as the damage the Light had done within her began to fade - that only stayed the same.

Every evening either someone from the village provided them with ample enough food for dinner or Alleria would slip away to hunt while Liadrin slept. Even in her exhausted state, she managed to control the shadow within her - especially when Alleria was around. And that was almost always. 

She wondered, sometimes, if this was how she was before. Before Turalyon had taken everything from her. She certainly couldn’t imagine her being any better...she’d never in her life known such a selfless person. It seemed the moment her strength returned to her everything had changed. 

Alleria had helped her bathe - had fed her, even, that first night. She’d helped her dress move about until she was healthy enough to do for herself what needed to be done. And it was all so easy between them. So natural. As short a time as it had been - Liadrin couldn’t bear to remember a time before Alleria was so solidly a pillar in her life. Nor could she bear to remember a time when she wasn’t the same for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sylvanas and Jaina had departed to see their children in Kul Tiras preceding a vacation nobody would argue them needing and the spires were quiet. Blessedly quiet in the most soothing, comforting way. And as the night breeze and the sounds of the ocean outside filtered in through the windows of their bedchamber, Alleria smiled at Liadrin as she sat on the edge of the bed to finish drying her hair, fresh out of the bath. And when she went to tie it up Alleria made her way over to her, her feet padding softly against the warm floorboards.

The look on her face caused Liadrin to pause with her hair gathered in her hands and Alleria reached for them, stroking across them and pulling them down gently. 

“What is it, Little Bird?” Liadrin asked quietly as Alleria guided her hair to rest against her bare shoulders. 

“You should leave it down tonight.” She murmured gently, stroking idly through the thick, red hair in her hands. 

Liadrin watched as Alleria’s eyes trailed over her and recognized the need in them. As well as the soft, ever-present adoration she’d been experiencing since that night in Kul Tiras. “Why is that?” She asked - her voice a whisper now as she reached out to caress her beloved’s solidly muscled thighs. 

Such a simple touch. And yet Allera moved into it - standing so her knees were pressed to the edge of the bed between Liadrin’s legs. “Because it’s beautiful.” Alleria responded as the side of her hand slipped beneath Liadrin’s chin to guide it upwards. When she ran her thumb across the Priestess’s lips the roughness of the pad of it contrasted against them in a way that caused a soft breath to leave them when they parted. “A blaze of red in a sea of sameness...I could spot you in a crowd from a mile away.” 

“Tell me, Alleria…” She breathed as she hooked an ankle around the back of the older woman’s leg and let it slide back down to the floor slowly. “Are you as attentive to your lovers as you are to your bow? As thorough?” It wasn’t a real question. There was a smile on the fullness of her lips beneath Alleria’s touch. 

But Alleria answered anyway. Her voice was soft and low as she leaned down and stroked along the bare length of Liadrin’s arm until her lips brushed the younger woman’s ear just so. “I will learn your curves...your peaks and your valleys so that I may worship every inch of you with my fingertips.” She allowed a warm breath to ghost against her ear as she traced her delicate collarbones as if to reaffirm this fact. “With my lips.” She pressed a kiss to the spot where the lobe of Liadrin’s ear met her jaw. “With my tongue.” She ran the slick, wet warmth of it up the underside of her ear just enough that it could be felt. 

That earned her a gasp in her own ear and her mouth fell to the side of Liadrin’s neck. Her lips parted against it and her teeth grazed the soft, pale skin there while her hand found the back of the Priestess’s neck and lowered her down onto the bed. 

“Alleria, your clothes…” Liadrin’s voice trembled more than either of them had expected it to and Alleria smiled against her throat. 

“No distractions. Leave them on. Just me have you, Liadrin. I've wanted you for so long.” Even as she spoke she ran her palms up the priestess’s thighs, relishing in the softness of them before trailing higher along her body - along her slender sides and the outer curves of her breasts as the Priestess’s hands found her hair and tangled in it. 

“You needn’t want, Little Bird.” She gasped out as she felt her chin nudged upwards by the bridge of her lover’s nose and her lips found the underside of her jaw. “I have never belonged to someone so completely as I belong to you.”

Liadrin quickly lost any sense of awareness of how much time was passing. All she knew was there was a gentleness in Alleria that she had never felt in another person. And that she had absolutely meant what she said about learning. Her lips left blazing trails of sensation across the skin of her neck...her chest...her shoulders, while deftly avoiding the jewelry-adorned nipples that ached to be touched but never were. They found the freckles that danced across her skin like stars and worshipped them like constellations. 

And her hands behaved in much the same way further down. Tracing lines along her thighs around to the backs of her knees and up again - even going so far as to graze the soft, red patch of hair between her legs now and then. 

Aside from occasional quiet moan and the way she shifted beneath Alleria’s touches, Liadrin made no protest - no move to rush her. In fact, the noises that fell from her lips were just as languid as the attention she was receiving. There wasn’t anything she could do about the way her hands trembled when they stroked along the flexed muscles of Alleria’s arms each time she leaned down to kiss her - or the dazed look on her face when they parted and she could do little else but look up at her lover and reach to touch along her cheek. 

“I love you, Liadrin. And I am yours, as well.” Alleria murmured as she pressed her face into the warmth of Liadrin’s palm before taking her hand in her own and holding it as she kissed it. She used the same hand to guide the Priestess to sit on the edge of the bed before she lowered herself to her knees between the younger woman’s legs and looked up at her. 

Liadrin smiled through her heavy breathing and shook her head as she reached to give her lover’s braid a gentle tug before she grazed her kiss-swollen lips with the back of her hand and then traced the front of her throat. “You are too good to be true, Alleria.” She murmured as older woman parted her thighs with slow, tender touches. “And yet here you are.”  
Her hand slipped to the back of Alleria’s head as she dipped it down and nuzzled against her inner thigh, pressing her lips against it as her ear brushed along Liadrin’s stomach and twitched faintly before the younger woman leaned back to give her more room. 

“I’ll be here for the rest of my days if here is wherever you are.” Alleria murmured against skin that was almost painfully sensitive. When the grip on her hair tightened she let out a sharp, shaky breath of her own before she turned her attention where they both wanted it most. 

The gasp this elicited from Liadrin was sharp and deep - despite the fact that all Alleria had done was brush her lips against her and breath her in. Alleria reached up and rested a hand on the Priestess’s stomach, stroking along the tense muscles there and then wrapping her arm around her to support her back and allow her to stay sitting. 

Whether it was because Alleria was just that good - or because she loved her so much and had wanted her for so very long - the way she parted her slowly with her lips and her tongue was more divine than anything she’d experienced thus far in her life. And the expression the older woman wore didn’t help matters. She’d rarely seen her look so content...or enthralled. 

And she took her time. Gods, did she take her time. Exploring every inch of impossibly slick, heated skin with her tongue before finally finding the core of her desire. As her tongue began circling and lapping slowly Liadrin was shaken to the core of her being by the low, husky moan that came from Alleria and reverberated against her. 

Eventually, she couldn’t even hold her own head up anymore and it fell back as the hand not cradling the back of Alleria’s head moved behind herself to help the other woman support her. One of her legs came to wrap around her back and her grip on wavy, wild blonde locks of hair tightened desperately as her hips began moving of their own accord. The stimulation was so deft and so responsive and Alleria’s moans of pleasure matched her own in volume as Liadrin’s arousal slipped down her lips and along her chin. 

She never rushed. Not for a single moment. And her breaths were steady as they pressed out against her lover through slightly flared nostrils. The peak Alleria brought her to was both the gentlest and most earth-shattering she’d ever experienced. She slipped into it without realizing it was coming and it felt like she was never going to stop falling. And through it all, her beloved kept working. Listening with keen ears to each mewl and gasp as she held her hips close. 

Liadrin was shaking almost uncontrollably and while her first instinct was to pull Alleria away from herself - she could feel pleasure building once again. More quickly this time. On the heels of the echoes of her first orgasm that hadn’t even begun to fade. This time she fell absolutely quiet aside from sharp gasps each time the tension in her body waned only to return again as she bent upwards, cradling Alleria’s head as though she were worried the older woman might actually stop with her so close again.

But she didn’t. She drew yet another quaking, all-encompassing tide of pleasure over her until she felt she might be pulled from reality before it began to retreat. Before that could happen, though, Alleria had finally moved from her knees and slid an arm beneath her to pull her fully into the bed. The soft leather of her clothing pressed against Liadrin’s flushed skin as she reached for her weakly to find Alleria was already pulling her into her arms. 

The shower of kisses and heated, breathless praise she received only served to leave her speechless and breathless for longer. 

“You taste so good, Liadrin.” Alleria whispered against her forehead before she kissed her again and reached up to stroke some of the sweat-dampened hair from her forehead, pushing it behind her lover’s ear so it would no longer hang in her face. “You come so beautifully…” 

She could feel Alleria’s appreciative gaze on her as she began to calm. “You...you didn’t tell me...you were so good at-”

“A lady has to have her secrets.” Alleria cut her off and pressed a smile of a kiss to her lips. “I take it I didn’t disappoint?” 

Liadrin finally let out the breath that seemed to release the tension still wracking her body and it turned into a laugh. A laugh at the feigned need for reassurance and the hint of cockiness behind it. It was something she hadn’t expected to return to her lover so quickly. But the lightness that came over her, as a result, was so incredibly needed. And it spread to Alleria - albeit more gently. 

“You could at least wipe your face, Little Bird, if you’re going to insist upon playing such a role with me right now.”

Alleria’s brow furrowed in mock indignance and she brought a hand up - touching her own glistening lips with her fingertips. “I quite like it. I think having you on me suits me, actually.” 

But she relented and once she had Liadrin drew her down for another kiss - wanting to taste herself on her beloved’s tongue again before it began to fade.

“Still. You might have warned me.” Liadrin murmured as some of Alleria’s weight came to settle against her. 

“I much preferred the sounds you made when you found out for yourself.” Alleria quipped in response, her eyes trailing lazily along the soft, slender lines of Liadrin’s naked body - illuminated by the moonlight of the window over the bed. 

“It was quite an experience, yes. One that you can feel free to repeat for me whenever you wish. So long as I can do the same for you.” Liadrin slipped a leg between Alleria’s leather-clad ones if only so they could be closer. 

“I have no qualms about your skill, Liadrin. Nor do I intend to let it go unused. You are quite good with your hands and that would be a terrible waste.” 

“You’ve no idea the things I’m quite good with, Little Bird.” 

Those words might have been overwhelmingly arousing had they not been followed by the most ridiculous wink Alleria had ever seen. So instead they attempted to kiss while they both laughed. 

It wasn’t the most successful by technical standards. 

But it was perfect to them. 

“Patterns”  
Jonathan Byron Belanger

we bend our knees and bring our ears to the ground  
to hear its sacred sound  
the drumroll of the ocean  
heartbeat of a soldier  
ooh, she soldiers on

let me dance in the rain  
ooh, let me remember how clean this rain feels again  
chase me through the bayou  
bathe me underwater  
guide me to the surface  
but keep me undercover

the stars scrape the horizon  
i waited here in silence  
it was all i had left  
when the patterns that emerge through the center of the earth  
reveal to me the polarity reverse  
the sun's demising and its sparks  
that fueled its rebirth

chase me through the bayou  
and teach me understanding  
put me through the paces and i'll come out a better man  
hold our lover down  
we can't hold our lover down

chase me through the bayou  
the laughter lives inside you  
hiding you in plain view  
and i'm the one to find it  
oh, and i'm the one to find it  
oh, and i'm the one to find it


	15. All On My Mind

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

“Wow, it’s been…”

“Years.” Jaina’s voice was full of soft amusement as she watched Sylvanas look around the pristine cabin that had once been no more than a run-down shack...but had still always offered them the only peace they knew in their former life. 

“Sit those down.” She continued, reaching for the strap of the bag Sylvanas had slung over her shoulder and lowering it to the floor. Her closeness seemed to finally draw her wife’s attention in her direction and she leaned in to press their lips together lightly as she stroked down the sides of her neck - left exposed by the messy ponytail her pale hair was tied up in. “You’re so tense.” 

“Mm, I’ll be alright. We came here to relax, didn’t we?” Sylvanas smiled against Jaina’s lips and wrapped her arms around her beloved’s slender waist as she returned to kissing her before she felt a very familiar yet still all too jarring lurch. 

Jaina caught her by her arm before she stumbled backward with a chuckle as her eyes glinted with mischief. “Careful. Don’t drown on me.” The mage quipped as she pulled her wife close again.

“Jaina...it’s freezing. I wish you wouldn’t do that without telling me. I…” Her eyes widened faintly as Jaina began stripping in front of her. 

“Jaina what in the name of the gods are you doing? If it rained right now it would probably snow and-”

“Sylvanas, please. Don’t be ridiculous. It isn’t even that cold...and besides, turn around.” Jaina chided gently as she slipped her shirt over her head and reached for her leggings to discard them as well. 

She almost felt guilty for a moment. Sylvanas didn’t have her winter cloak on right now and it was, admittedly, a little brisk out. But she’d be lying if she said the way her ears pressed back and her expression withered before she turned around weren’t painfully adorable.

But the sight of the steam rising from the hot springs Jaina had brought them to seemed to ease her beloved’s stung pride. And whatever sting was left was quickly melted away by Jaina pressing behind her to remove her clothes. 

Sylvanas wasn’t sure what magic her wife wove around the spring but the moment she slipped into the water it was clear she’d done something. Even the air around the spring was warm and heavy and relaxing and while she’d always enjoyed swimming she only managed to stroke across the width of the natural pool once before she found herself leaning back against the outer ridge propped on a ledge. 

She enjoyed watching Jaina, though, as she pulled her braid loose and dunked her head under the water and emerged. She looked so put-together so frequently it was a pleasant surprise to see her this way. And she had no doubt in her mind that it was intentional. Especially when the mage lifted her hands to wring out her hair with a none-too-subtle smirk on her face. “You haven’t seen this enough times, my love?” She asked quietly as she lowered herself back into the water and pushed herself towards her beloved. 

Sylvanas looked up at her and helped her move to straddle her lap beneath the water as her eyes trailed along her body - watching an errant droplet here and there slip along skin she would never grow tired of gazing at...or tasting, for that matter. And each droplet glistened faintly in the moonlight of the clearing Jaina had brought them to. Until she felt gentle fingertips lifting her chin as Jaina settled in her lap and leaned into her. Instead of a kiss, Sylvanas found herself wrapped in the warmth of her lover’s arms. 

She hadn’t realized until that moment just how much she needed this. Just to hold and be held. So much had happened...and they were always so very busy. It was wonderful just to sit there with Jaina’s weight on her and her face resting against her shoulder. It caused the tension to ease from her body slowly and her breathing to even out until finally she was trailing her fingertips along Jaina’s back and turning her head enough to brush her lips against the mage’s jaw. “I’ll never have enough of anything that has to do with you.” She murmured, reaching up to draw some of her beloved’s wet hair behind her ear as she trailed her kisses higher. 

Jaina let out a breathy sigh and tilted her head for more attention as she toyed with some of the hair at the nape of her wife’s neck, enjoying the slow, languid pace the older woman was setting for them. Time was such a rare luxury. And they had it now. 

And yet still when Sylvanas guided her in for a kiss and her eyes fell shut and she was met with nothing when she leaned in she was almost agitated when she opened her eyes to find her lover smirking at her faintly. “You needn’t make me look like a smitten schoolgirl, Sylvanas.” Jaina murmured as she reached up and brushed her fingertips along that familiar little smile. 

“I love that you still do that.” She responded as her hands slid slowly along the undersides of Jaina’s thighs to grasp her ass rather firmly before she trailed her touches towards the small of her back. 

“Do you?” Jaina asked as she caught the back of Sylvanas’s head and leaned in - pausing just before their lips met with her own parted and pulling back just so when her lover tilted towards her. She tightened her grip, then and tugged gently - appreciating the huff of breath that met her lips in response and rewarding her with the faintest ghost of a touch to her waiting mouth. 

“Jaina…” 

She could have pulled out of that hold if she’d wanted to. She could have easily tugged her lover closer. But she settled on slipping a hand between her legs and spreading her with her fingertips as her free hand grasped her hip firmly. 

Jaina drew in a sharp breath when her wife began circling her slowly and tried to push her hips down only to find the force pressing back against her too strong. “Sylvanas, please…” 

“Are you going to kiss me?” 

And she did so without bothering to respond. It was slow and deep and languid and gradually the teasing touches beneath the steaming water became more satisfying and she found herself moaning into her lover’s mouth as her arms came to rest over her shoulders. It didn’t take long for her hips to start matching the motions of Sylvanas’s fingers pressing inside her so deftly. Nor did it take long for her to break the kiss in order to breathe as she buried her face against the side of her beloved’s neck.

The mark she left there was dark and angry and it drew a trembling moan from Sylvanas. It was so rare that they could mark one another in such a way. But this place had always been a refuge from who and what they were. Here they could just belong to each other. And with so much time on their hands there could be physical evidence of that. 

The very thought of it caused Jaina’s movements to be a touch more frantic as her slightly blurred vision fell upon the dark patch of skin forming on the side of the older woman’s slender neck. The need to touch it overcame her and her hips went still for a moment as she moved one of her hands to wrap gently around Sylvanas’s throat as she brushed against it with her thumb. 

Their eyes met for a brief moment and the expression on Sylvanas’s face was more than she could bear. And she held her gaze when she came much the same as she held her throat. The lightest of pressure. Just enough to be felt as quiet, shaking gasps turned into a low, soft moan and Sylvanas’s hand gradually stilled between her legs. 

Her light hold loosened slowly as she relaxed against Sylvanas again - fingertips sliding down to stroke along her shoulder and upper arm before she sagged as the last, gentler waves of her orgasm allowed her breathing to steady. “Thank you.” She whispered with a small smile. 

Sylvanas nodded faintly - still in a bit of a daze herself - and in even more than one when she was ordered up onto the edge of the pool and found her wife between her legs. 

And gods did she make up for the time they’d been without each other’s full touch. If it hadn’t been for the soft moss her head rested upon she probably would’ve have injured herself a time or two by the time Jaina sated herself of her. 

The mage couldn’t help but chuckle quietly as Sylvanas lay against the ground limply and she pulled her back into the warmth of the water slowly - careful to avoid scraping her against any of the rocks. 

They spent longer in the water than they probably should have just enjoying the quiet and the well-earned peace. By the time Jaina brought them back to the cabin they were well and truly shriveled and quite red. 

But the fire Jaina had enchanted still burned warmly in the hearth as they fell into bed together still damp - and not caring a bit about it. They were far too distracted by their new-found freedom - temporary as it may have been. 

Sylvanas found herself enchanted by her wife as she toyed with her drying hair while she told her about the book she hadn’t gotten to finish before their most recent catastrophe. A text on arcane energies she’d found in Silvermoon that had been lost in their own timeline. One she’d never read - which was always something that excited her. 

She loved the light in Jaina’s eyes as she spoke about it. It was difficult not to find something interesting when it was Jaina explaining it. 

And she was even more interested to hear Jaina had been toying with certain arcane spells in regards to arrows and how the silver tips Sylvanas and a great many other high-ranking Rangers fancied were particularly suited to her applications. 

They were so engrossed in one-another Sylvanas didn’t even notice as the colors in the room shifted from darkness into a dusky grey. But Jaina noticed when her beloved’s eyelids began to droop now and then and fell quiet as she just watched her for a while and reached up to cradle her cheek. 

“Mm...why’d you stop talking?” She asked softly - having to work a bit harder than she’d anticipated to get the question out. 

“Because it’s nearly morning and you’re exhausted.”

“M’fine.” The argument was half-hearted at best but she seemed to gather her thoughts enough to form something a bit more coherent as Jaina laughed quietly. “It’s been so long since we talked all night. It’s been since...since the first time around. And I didn’t want to miss it.” 

Jaina’s laughter faded as Sylvanas spoke and her brow furrowed as she listened before she moved closer to her sleepy lover and pulled the blankets about them more tightly. “There’s nothing to miss, my love. We’ll have each other always. We’ve worked hard enough to rest easy in that fact. But if you miss it so much - we can to it now and again. Though why you love to hear me prattle so much I don’t think I’ll ever understand.”  
“Not prattling. I love to watch you do anything...you know that. You are so incredibly smart. So articulate and...I just love you, Jaina. I’d listen to you read wanted posters if that’s what you wanted to do. But when you talk about magic or history...the way your eyes do that thing…” 

Jaina kissed the older woman’s forehead as she began drifting off and her lips lingered there as she wrapped an arm around her to stroke along her back. “I love you, too. You are so perfect, Sylvanas. And I’m so proud that you’re mine.” 

The following days were nothing short of blissful. They took turns cooking at the fireplace, doting upon each other almost constantly, and returned to the springs often. And if that didn’t solidify everything they’d worked so hard for - bled and cried and suffered and lost for - their last morning in the cabin certainly did. 

“Are you ready to go home, then, lover?” Jaina stepped towards Sylvanas and reached for her cheeks to draw her close so their foreheads rested together. 

“No.” She answered quietly as she rested a hand against the center of the younger woman’s chest. “...Perhaps.”

Jaina pulled her into a firm hug and kissed the scarcely visible mark on the side of her neck. “I miss them too, my darling.”

“You won’t be saying that tonight when you’re exhausted and they haven’t even told you half of their adventures yet.” Sylvanas quipped as she reached for Jaina’s hand and lifted it so their fingertips rested together beside them. 

“Mm, a fair point. But I can’t wait to hear of them.”

Sylvanas pulled back slowly and reached for the last of their bags to shoulder it - her eyes trained steadily on Jaina’s and a look of sheer contentment on her face. “Neither can I.”

"All On My Mind"  
Anderson East

She can wear a nightgown to a wedding  
A t-shirt to bed  
A short skirt in the olden times  
Some daisies wrapped around her head  
You can find my woman dancing in bare feet  
On the couch in a ballroom dress  
And I love how my baby looks at me  
With her arms draped 'round my neck

I said, "Oh, honey, just like that"  
I give you my loving and you give it right back  
I said, "Oh, honey, just like this"  
Hanging on white knuckle grip

It's all on my mind  
Feel something when I kiss you good night  
It's all on my mind  
Feel something when I open my eyes  
It's all on my mind  
Feel that I could be your sweetest compromise  
It's all on my mind  
It's all on my mind

I could wear wing tips to a wedding  
501's to bed  
A full suit to the party  
We dance 'til no one's left  
And I kiss my baby with a sweetness  
That only she could bring  
And I love how my baby touches me  
So play our lover's game

Me and my baby are bass and the beat  
Lo-fi rhythm, the sweat and the heat  
Come on lover, won't you follow my lead  
Move on into the night


	16. Time In A Bottle

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161614435@N03/45448698614/in/dateposted-public/)

Sylvanas smiled warmly as Warren leaned down to her and wrapped his arms around her with Jaina looking on contentedly. The former Ranger-General held onto him a bit longer than usual but he didn’t seem to mind and, in fact, placed a kiss to the top of his mother’s head before she finally released him.

“It is so good to see you.” She murmured softly, her eyes focused intently on him as she stroked his cheek before she nudged him towards her wife. “Now stop acting like I’m an invalid just because I’m pregnant and pay your mother some attention.”

“Yes, Mother.” He responded with a chuckle. His voice was deep and rich and full of love for her. For both of them. That was clear enough as he showed Jaina similar treatment to that which he’d shown her. 

“How is your apprenticeship going?” The Archmage asked with a wink as she let him slip from her arms and rested a hand along Sylvanas’s thigh. 

“As though you aren’t perfectly well aware of how my apprenticeship is going…” He quipped - releasing an amused huff when Jaina pretended to look affronted before turning to her wife. 

“He must have gotten that sharp tongue from you. I take absolutely no responsibility for it.” The corners of her mouth turned up slightly as Sylvanas turned her head and lifted a brow at her before her attention was drawn by footsteps rushing hurriedly down the stairs to their living space. 

“Warren!” Rialyn all but launched herself at her older brother and he caught her easily in his arms before spinning her around and sitting her back down. 

“Rialyn you must have grown two feet since I last saw you!” He exclaimed, though that earned him a rather derisive snort from all involved parties. 

“You saw me a month ago. And, besides, Mom says I’m not going to get much taller.” 

“Did she, now? Well...that might be the case. Perhaps Belore blessed me with the height and you with the looks. I feel I’ve gotten the short end of the stick…” 

Rialyn punched her brother in the arm lightly but he still made a great show of how grievously wounded he was. 

“That’s quite enough of that, you two.” Jaina scolded softly as she stood and did little to hide the look of amusement on her face. “Go fetch Alleria and Liadrin. Tell them dinner is almost ready.”

“Shouldn’t they...I dunno, split up for the night? Make the wedding a bit more exciting or...what was that tradition?” Rialyn turned to Sylvanas who merely shrugged. 

“It took them ten years to finally decide to do it. I’ll allow them to approach it however they see fit. If they wanted to get married on the backs of mules that would be just fine by me.” 

Warren excused himself to fetch his aunt and his soon to be additional aunt. 

“Ten years is a long time to wait.” Rialyn stated softly. “You and Mom only waited one or two...I wonder what took them so long.” 

“Sometimes one or two years can feel like twenty, Ri. And sometimes ten years can feel like one or two. They waited until they were ready, that’s all.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Stop worrying, Sylvanas. You look absolutely stunning. You know that…” Jaina cooed against the back of her ear as she helped her slip her jacket on over her shoulders.

“Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t. Maybe they could have waited until I wasn’t a walking whale shark.” 

“You are no such thing. Don’t be ridiculous.” Jaina responded, looking into her beloved’s eyes as she turned to face her. She stroked the back of her hand along the swell of her stomach and then leaned into the kiss she could tell was coming. Once their lips parted she touched over the buttons of the vest that had been specially tailored to fit her for the wedding and slowly leaned forward to press her forehead to Sylvanas’s shoulder. 

“What’s on your mind?” She asked softly as she stroked over the intricate braidwork her wife’s mostly white hair was pulled up into. 

“It’s all gone by so fast.” Jaina whispered as she tugged at the lapels of her beloved’s jacket to urge her closer and then slid her hands beneath it to the small of her back. 

Sylvanas held her in thoughtful silence for a moment, turning those words over in her head before finally answering. “It has. But it’s been so beautiful. Every day with you...every day with our family has been so much more than I could have ever imagined. And besides...we’re due to start all over again soon enough.” 

“True enough.” Jaina seemed lightened by that reassurance. And she was. She was elated they had another little one on the way - especially with Rialyn so close to starting her own apprenticeship and Warren already living nearly full time in Silvermoon. “We’d best go, hm? We don’t need to be late to the wedding of the century.” 

That had been sarcasm, of course. It was a small ceremony with only their closest friends and family present. Neither Liadrin nor Alleria had ever been fond of a big fuss and with neither of them being politically significant - keeping things simple had been relatively easy. 

The breeze along the beach behind their spires was comfortably mild as they all looked on at Liadrin and Alleria exchanging their vows. They both wore lovey. Alleria in a flowing blue and silver shirt that laced against her chest and matching linen pants and Liadrin in an off-white dress with blue embellishments that matched the color of Alleria’s clothing. And both of them were free of shoes - their feet pressing into the soft, warm sand as the tide washed up behind them rhythmically while Vereesa officiated their ceremony. 

She’d put up less of a fight this time. Perhaps because of the bigger crowd - or perhaps because she’d become a bit more settled as the twins had gotten older. 

Both of them were very fond of Warren and he took a great deal of pleasure in spending time with them. Even now - they were sandwiched between the young man and Rhonin paying rapt attention to what was happening. 

Especially when Arator walked up the aisle with one of their hands on each of his arms looking more proud than he ever had in his life. He’d been a staple of Windrunner life over the past decade. He’d accepted what had happened more easily than anyone had expected him to and had grown to be protective over both his mother and Liadrin. And they both adored him. It had been wonderful to watch grow and unfold - and it was even more wonderful to watch the way they both embraced him and each kissed one of his cheeks before he moved to find a seat in the front row - beaming from ear to ear. 

Their vows were beautiful. Even Sylvanas felt her eyes burn slightly with unshed tears as they promised one-another a lifetime of safety and love and devotion in their own unique ways. Liadrin was better with words - more poetic. More flowery. But what Alleria lacked in that area she made up for in sheer determination and the fact that every word she spoke she spoke with every ounce of her being. 

The bouquet toss, while not Elven tradition, was something they all found quite amusing and had begun adopting from their Kul-Tiran allies and as the women in attendance began scampering over to participate Sylvanas reached for Rialyn’s wrist and held it, pulling her back towards where her and Jaina were seated. “Absolutely not.” Sylvanas chuckled. “Not until you’re a hundred. At the very least.” 

Rialyn had been about to complain but relented, instead, and made her way towards a nearby table to fetch herself some cordial. 

“Shit.” Sylvanas hissed suddenly, causing Jaina to glance in her direction as she stopped walking in the direction of the reception that was even more informal than the wedding had been. 

“What?” She demanded quietly as Sylvanas leaned over for a moment and shook her head. 

“Shit.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some day they might all laugh about it. Some day they might all find it all very amusing. And, really, a lot of them already did.

Liadrin had never thought she would wear a wedding dress - much less deliver a baby in one. But here they were in the couple's bedroom - Jaina behind her lover holding her hands as their growing family waited downstairs nervously - all dolled up for the wedding and, now, the arrival of the newest Windrunner-Proudmoore child. Vereesa was kneeling beside them toweling Sylvanas’s brow and Alleria was pacing in the hallway outside - occasionally dipping in to check on them. It had been so long since Arator’s birth that she found herself wondering how she’d ever survived it. 

But their daughter’s cries upon her emergence into their world silenced even the quiet chatter downstairs. And the shock of black hair caused both Vereesa and Alleria to pause. Liadrin had to raise her voice a bit louder than usual to summon Alleria with a basin of warm water to sponge her off with. 

Jaina found the sight strange. But she was to overcome with a mixture of joy and concern for her exhausted wife to ask any questions. 

Eventually, she was settled in Sylvanas’s arms and Liadrin took a moment to towel herself off, as well. “Well, then. Giving birth on the day of my wedding...the least you two could do is tell me her name.” She quipped as Alleria took her towel from her and stroked gently down her arm. 

“Danestra.” Jaina responded softly in between gentle kisses to her beloved’s temple.

“Danestra.” Liadrin repeated quietly. “A strong name. Come, Little Bird. Let’s give them a moment before visitors drain the last of their strength.” 

Alleria couldn’t help but look at Danestra for a moment longer as she nursed for the first time and Vereesa reached for her shoulder to grasp it for a moment before they all slipped quietly from the room. 

Once they were alone Sylvanas slumped back against Jaina’s chest and her head fell back to her shoulder. 

“You’re incredibly good at making beautiful children, my darling.” Jaina murmured against her hair as she kneaded her shoulders lightly. 

“Mm...I do try.” She whispered as she felt Jaina cover her up once their daughter seemed to have enough for a moment. And for the first time she really managed to focus on the newest addition to her family and she reached to run her fingertips along the shock of silken black hair atop her head. 

“But I can’t help but wonder where that came from.” Jaina continued as Danestra opened her almost icy, glowing eyes to look up towards the familiar sound of her mother’s voice. It had been murmured against Sylvanas’s stomach often enough over the past months that she recognized the tone of it. 

“Oh, Sylvanas...she’s beautiful…” Jaina whispered - her voice breaking slightly as she nuzzled against the older woman’s hair. 

Sylvanas’s own voice was caught in her throat for a moment before she finally managed to answer. “She is. She looks just like my mother.” 

And it suddenly dawned on her why Alleria and Vereesa had seemed to be so affected. So enthralled. 

“Lireesa.” Jaina spoke the name with a gentle reverence as her eyes fell on their daughter again. They hadn’t talked about her much even after all their years together. It had happened so long ago...and it had never been a subject Sylvanas seemed incredibly keen to discuss. 

So it went without saying the woman’s appearance had never come up. 

Jaina reached out and cradled their daughter’s cheek in her hand, stroking over it softly with her thumb. “I don’t sense any magic in her.” She murmured as she leaned her cheek against Sylvanas’s head. 

“Mm perhaps we’ve finally managed to make a Ranger.” Sylvanas responded - a mixture of exhaustion and contentment in her voice. 

“Gods, I hope not. I have so little blonde left...you would take the rest from me so soon?”

Even as tired as she was Sylvanas couldn’t help but chuckle softly at that. 

“The life of a Ranger isn’t so bad, Jaina.”  
“An excellent attempt at a joke. Truly. And you mean to tell me a daughter of yours would be satisfied with just being a Ranger?”

“You’ve so much room to talk, Archmage.” 

Recognizing she couldn’t possibly come up with a decent argument for that Jaina simply sighed and settled back against the wall she’d been leaning against as Sylvanas dozed comfortably against her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What a wedding that was…” Alleria mused as Liadrin finally crawled into bed beside her to press along her side, finding herself wrapped in her wife’s arms soon thereafter.

“It was rather perfect, honestly.” Liadrin reached to stroke through wavy blonde locks of hair fanned out against the pillow they shared. 

Alleria pulled her bride atop herself, then, and looked up at her as she stroked along her sides and finally propped herself up on her elbows to kiss her. “It was, wasn’t it?” She murmured quietly against the smile she felt pressing against her own. 

“I wouldn’t change a thing, Little Bird.” The Priestess kissed her again, then, and sighed as she rested their foreheads together. 

“Nor would I. Not for anything in the world. Not a single moment of it. Because all of it led me to you.”

"Time In A Bottle"  
Jim Croce - Cover by Sandra van Nieuwland

If I could save time in a bottle  
The first thing that I'd like to do  
Is to save every day till eternity passes away  
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever  
If words could make wishes come true  
I'd save every day like a treasure and then  
Again, I would spend them with you

But there never seems to be enough time  
To do the things you want to do, once you find them  
I've looked around enough to know  
That you're the one I want to go through time with

If I had a box just for wishes  
And dreams that had never come true  
The box would be empty, except for the memory of how  
They were answered by you

But there never seems to be enough time  
To do the things you want to do, once you find them  
I've looked around enough to know  
That you're the one I want to go through time with

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who has joined me on this journey - you have all been a true blessing.  
> Thank you so very much to each and every one of you.  
> I hope you've enjoyed the read.


End file.
